The Letter
by AliceUnknown
Summary: .COMPLETED. When a letter for Maka sends her into a depression, thoughts and emotions that were buried deep begin to rise to the surface.  -Soul/Maka-
1. Sinking

**Ohkayyy so this is one of my firsts (~please go easy on me x.~) and I hope you like it. PLEASE R&R **

**yeah, it's not that great now, sorry**

**Chapter One: Sinking**

Soul sighed as he gently knocked on the door. "Maka?" he called. No response. He knocked again, but to no avail. "Maka, I know you're in there..." Nothing. "Well...I'm going now, I'll see you after school, I guess..." When no reply came, he left, slightly frustrated.

It had been days since the letter arrived. At first he had tried to hide it from her. Whenever she asked if mail had come for her, he simply said no. But he knew that he could not hide it from her forever, so he decided about four days ago to break the news.

"Hey, Maka," he said feebly as he entered the living room, holding the letter behind him. She turned away from the anime she was watching on tv.

"Yep?" she asked. When he hesitated, she turned serious. "What's wrong, Soul?"

He slowly took out the letter, already sensing that it was all downhill from there. "Y...you got this in the mail..."

Curious, and a little angry that he had read her mail, she snatched the letter from his hand. "Why did you-" but as soon as she began reading, she forgot everything else. Then, she re-read it, examining each word as her heart sank deeper and deeper. Even when she had finished reading it, she just stared at the paper, waiting. At first, she didn't know what for, but it came to her right before her tears did, and, releasing the letter from her grasp, she ran into her room.

"Maka-" Soul chased after her, but she slammed the door right in his face. "Maka! Maka!" When she didn't respond, he figured that she just needed some time alone.

_But that was four days previous to now_, Soul thought, remembering that it was on Thursday evening. _Of course, it must be traumatic for her, but to not eat and lie in bed for four days is...unthinkable. And even one day of missing school is a lot for her. _He tried to push those thoughts away- he didn't want them to affect his mood today.

Throughout the day, Soul's mind kept drifting to his meister. He figured he should take notes for her and copy down the work. She may want to do work, or whatever. What the hell, he even decided to do some of the work for her. After all, if he committed himself to something, then he was actually really smart. He just never really showed that side because 1- Maka would beat herself up and 2- it just wasn't really that cool, anyway.

After school, he talked to Black Star and Tsubaki before heading home.

"Maybe I should stop by, eh?" boomed Black Star. Soul and Tsubaki already knew where this was going. "JUST SEEING THIS WONDERFUL FACE CAN CURE ANY UNHAPPINESS!" He erupted into laughter as Tsubaki changed the subject.

"So, you actually took notes and did work for Maka? Wow...that was nice of you, considering you don't even do your own work."

Soul sighed. "Yeah, well, the sooner Maka gets over her depression, the better for all of us."

"True. All right, well, tell Maka I say feel better!" She smiled.

As Soul sped home on his motorcycle, he wondered what it must feel like to lose his mom. He knew that he never had a great relationship with any of his relatives but he wondered how he would react. For one thing, he was certain that he wouldn't lock himself in his room for days. He guessed that just went to show how great of a relationship Maka had with her mom.

And for the whole ride home, Soul was jealous of that.


	2. Monologue of the Nightmare

**Thank you to everyone who subscribed to this story and commented! I appreciate it a lot!**

**Ohkay, I know I might not have made this really clear, but yes, the letter was a notification of Maka's mom's death.**

**PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.**

Chapter 2- Monologue of the Nightmare

Soul sighed as he walked to Maka's room and laid his hand on the door knob, hesitant. After a moment, he gripped the knob, turned it, and cautiously entered the room. "Maka?" he asked when the bed came into view. All that was really visible of her was a few strands of her hair that dared to poke out from underneath the thick blankets. He walked over to the bed and pushed the top of the blankets a little ways down, so that her eyes (which now looked like swollen olives, and were staring past Soul into a place of nothingness) were visible. She didn't move them or make eye contact. Her eyelids drooped over a large portion of her eyes, giving them a look of sorrow. She did not speak or move a muscle. For a moment, Soul wondered if she had killed herself, but the thought vanished when he saw her chest ever so slightly move up and down.

The whole sight was downright pathetic, and made him uncomfortable. Nevertheless, he asked, "Do you need me to get you something? Food? Water? Anything?"

Maka softly shook her head, which was half in her pillow, half faced towards Soul. Her eyes, however, still did not move from the fixed position they had started in.

He rubbed his face, knowing this wasn't going to be easy. "Maka, listen. You need to eat something," he told her, actually sounding like a parent. "You're gonna feel even worse if you don't."

She mumbled quietly, expecting that response, "I'm not hungry."

"Yeah, well, at this point, I don't really care if you're hungry or not. It's been four days, Maka. Frankly, I'm blown away that you haven't died yet," he stated rather harshly. He didn't really care anymore, though. As a weapon, he was doing a horrible job of protecting his meister, not to mention doing a horrible job as a friend by letting her starve herself. _This has to be assisted suicide, or whatever it is,_ he thought.

Maka gave a puny shrug. "I can't eat."

"Well then, I guess I'll just have to feed you myself," he said stubbornly as he walked out of the room.

"Soul..." she trailed off when he had left the room, and slumped back into he bed. Immediately after relaxing herself again, her eyelids inched downwards and her mind wandered off to other places. She began to fall into a deep sleep.

It was wintertime, and everything was in a crystalized beauty. Snowflakes drifted, carefree, towards the bright outside, emerging from cerulean skies that, curiously, had no clouds to begin with. The icy snow crunched beneath the feet of a younger Maka and her mom as they walked peacefully through a woods that no longer held leaves. Although the tree branched stuck out crookedly, vivid birds rest on the branches and tiny wildlife skated across the ground, creating a pleasant scene. Maka had her hand in her mothers as she skipped alongside the beautiful, willowy woman who had a sincere smile on her lips. She had secretly hoped that one day, she would look just like her mom. Everything was so perfect and serene. Little Maka laughed at a couple of squirrels who were slipping on ice. Her mother laughed for her chid's bliss.

Then, out of nowhere, black clouds quickly began to litter the sky. The joyous sun was fading, and all of the animals evacuated the area, leaving the branches to look eerie and empty without their colorful counterparts. The air that seemed pleasant and nice now turned cold and harsh as a fierce wind began to stir up the dead leaves.

Confused and afraid, young Maka looked up to her mother for reassurance. Instead, she discovered that, like the sun, her mother was slowly fading away. "Mom?" cried out Maka, squeezing her moms hand for comfort, but instead, she found that the hand of the woman who she most loved and admired was disappearing. Maka looked at her face, which was becoming less and less visible, with tears in her eyes.

Her mother smiled a sad smile at her daughter, as she slipped farther away.

Frantic, Maka screamed, "MOM! MOOOM!"

Right as the last part of her mom dissolved, her mom whispered, "Be good, Maka…" Her sad smile was the last thing to go.

Maka let out a horrific scream. "MOMMY! COME BACK!" She mercilessly sobbed, still screaming, as she fell to the cold, hard floor. "NO! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME!" She scratched the angry tears away from her face, leaving a burn and marks. She punched the frozen ground aggressively until her knuckles bled.

Before she knew it, everything turned dark, and she blacked out, still letting her voice ring out.

"MAKA!"

She jolted upright, expecting to see her mom right before her. Instead, her face came dangerously close to that of her partners, who was sitting on the edge of the bed. Still dazed by her dream, she backed away a little bit and asked, "What….happened?"

Concern in his blood-red eyes, Soul replied, "You were having a nightmare. I went to make you dinner, and when I came back, you were asleep. I didn't really want to wake you up, so I left, but….." he turned his head to the clock that sat next to the illuminated lamp. Maka did the same and saw that it read 12:32 a.m. "You were screaming, so I came here. Are you okay?" Then he hesitantly added, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Maka was shocked. He had asked her if she wanted to talk about a problem? "No. I know you're not good with that stuff, so it's okay." Soul released his breath quietly. "It's just about my mom. I'm fine, though."

Soul stared at Maka, looking to see if she was lying. After concluding either that she was telling the truth or that he didn't want to talk about it anyway, he got up, and said, "Wait here for a sec." He walked out of her room.

Maka sighed of relief. She pushed her matted hair out of her face only to discover that she was sweating out of fear. She wiped it away with her pajama sleeve and thought about her dream. She pushed it out of her mind, though, when she began to shiver at the thought.

Soul walked back into the room with a warm bowl of soup in his hands. He rested it on her bedside table and said, "Eat up. I made it before, but it got cold, so I just microwaved it."

"Soul, I'm not-"

"I don't care," he interrupted. "Eat it."

She paused before picking up the spoon and dipping it into the steamy vegetable soup. She put it in her mouth, and the dryness in her that she didn't know was there was immediately relieved. The lively flavors nourished her dried-out taste buds, and her throat felt so much better after all of that screaming when it slid down it. Her stomach growled as she realized just how hungry she actually was. She continued to eat, greedily, and completely forgot that Soul was still in the room.

Once she had practically licked the bowl clean, she gave a satisfied sigh and said to Soul, "Thank you."

He simply nodded and stood up from the carpet he had been sitting on. He retrieved the bowl and spoon and was about to walk out the door when a sudden panic overcame Maka, and she cried out, "Wait!"

Soul turned to face her. "What?"

"It's just…..I'm still kind of…..um…." She couldn't get her words out for some reason.

He smiled. "I'll be right back," he said as he walked out of the room. After a minute, he returned back to her room, empty bowl gone, and pulled up a chair next to her bed.

Embarrassed, Maka said, "Soul, you don't have to-"

But he held up a hand to silence her as he took an extra blanket from beside her closet and put it around himself as he sat comfortably in the chair. "Night," he said.

Maka smiled. "Goodnight Soul."

***crosses fingers* please comment please comment please comment! thank you for reading! i'll be sure to upload the next chapter soon!**


	3. Pancakes and Fake Smiles

**Wow, I think I'm writing a chapter a day for this o.0 lol thank you everyone! I've had a lot of hits and subscribers, and I really appreciate it ^_^ I actually really like this story! (I usually am ashamed of my stories) so i'm really excited! X) again, though, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaase comment! I love seeing a comment on my stories very much :)**

**disclaimer: I don't own soul eater :(**

**so, without further achoo, here's the next chapter!**

Chapter 3- Pancakes and Fake Smiles

Maka opened her eyes slowly and let the light, which came in through the window, steadily fill her eyes. She sat still, thinking about all that had gone down last night. She had a peaceful sleep after her nightmare. Nightmare. What was it about again? She thought, still half asleep. Maka recalled the nightmare, and about how her mother had disappeared in the dream. She gasped. Remembering the nightmare made her remember that her mom, her precious mom, was gone. Dead. Cold.

She almost jumped out of her sheets when a soft snore was released. She looked over to see Soul sitting on the chair, but with his head in his arms, resting partially on he foot of the bed; like how he looked when he was sleeping in Stein's class. Even the hint of drool was apparent.

And yet, even though the whole sight wasn't particularly charming, Maka softened when she saw it. Even though he had picked on her relentlessly- making fun of her entire physical appearance, mentality and emotional behavior- it was all forgotten when she saw this simple gesture. He was always there when she needed him most.

The thought suddenly made her feel guilty, seeing as he must have been really worried for her these past few days. _Be good,_ the mom in her dream had whispered. Maybe it was a sign or something. She thought of her mom again- always thinking about the best for her. She would have been horrified to see Maka in such a state these last few days. Even if she had died, she'd never want Maka to be this unhappy. She suddenly became very determined to show that she was okay to the world.

Maka turned back to her sleeping partner. For some reason, she had an instinct to ruffle his hair, seeing him that innocent. His face was so calm and peaceful, and not anything like how he was when he was awake. She had reached out her hand to his head, but pulled away at the last moment. Instead, she poked his arm and said, "Hey, Soul. It's morning."

He jerked awake, but was half-aslep again in a split second afterwards. "Wh-Whu?" he mumbled, struggling to keep his eyes open. Maka considered letting him sleep in, but then remembered Stein warning him that if he was late to class again, he'd get a detention. So she shook him a little bit. "We've got to get up. It's Tuesday. If your late again, you'll-"

But suddenly, Soul was wide awake. He got up and pushed Maka back down on the bed so that she was lying down. "Not today," he said, clumsily putting the chair back and cursing when he stubbed his toe.

"But I'm fine. Really, you don't-"

"Maka, it's okay," he said, now putting her back down when she tried to sit up again. "I talked to Stein and even Shinigami and they both said that they were surprised I hadn't stayed home with you yet. So they let us have an extra day off."

Frowning a little, for she really wanted to show that she was okay, she said, "But I'm fine!" She gave a smile just to show so, but it didn't convince Soul at all.

"Maka, you have a day off. C'mon, you really need to do something besides go to school," he said from the kitchen, apparently making breakfast for her. "What do you wanna do, huh?" She got up and entered the kitchen. Soul was too distracted to notice. "Whatever you want."

She thought about this. "Hmm...whatever I want..." A thought popped up. "Well, I'd really like to see if there are any new books out that I haven't read yet."

Soul let out a sigh. Noticing this, Maka turned to him. "What?"

Stirring up a batter of what would be pancakes, Soul replied, "Of all the places in the entire city, you choose the bookstore."

Embarrassed, Maka started, "I thought-"

"No, it's fine," he interrupted. "You get to pick. I'm fine with wherever."

"Liar."

He laughed, gently pouring the batter into circles on the pan. "It's okay, really. This is your day today!"

Maka stared at him for a moment. Guilt began to creep back inside of her. She looked at the floor. "Soul?"

"Yeah," he said, letting the almost-pancakes rest while he retrieved the toast.

"I'm really sorry. And you don't have to go through all-"

"Shut it," he said, sticking a piece of toast in her mouth and returning to his pancakes. "It's really not that big of a deal. I'd rather make breakfast and stop by the bookstore than spend another day in that hell-hole."

She laughed a little bit, pulling the toast out of her mouth. Finishing up with the food, he smiled and said, "Finally."

"Huh?" she asked as the smell of pancakes finally began to waft through her nose.

"Nothing. All right, here it is," he announced, placing the finished product on a large plate. The pancakes had a golden hue and were releasing steam that made Maka almost drool. Soul opened a bottle of syrup and poured it on. When everything was done, Maka sat at the table, looking at the beautiful food for a while before delicately cutting into it and putting it in her mouth. She immediately fell in love with them, and tried to not look like a pig as she speedily ate through five pancakes. Realizing how quickly she had finished them, she said to Soul, "Sorry you had to see that."

He shrugged. "I don't blame you. You ate nothing but soup for four days straight. I would be surprised if you didn't eat them like that." He smirked. "Especially considering how cool mine are."

She couldn't help but notice how he didn't take the opportunity to take a shot at her, but ignored it. She stood up to bring her plate to the dishwasher before Soul took it from her and made her sit back down. "Actually, they're fantastic! You should cook more, Soul," she smiled. A genuine smile.

"Ha, yeah, you wish," he laughed. She rolled her eyes. "Anyways, we'll leave whenever you're ready," he said after finishing cleaning up. He then went back into his room for the rest of the while.

After taking a (much needed) shower, brushing her teeth, etc. etc, Maka was ready to go. So the pair left and headed down in the crisp, midday light towards town square.

They were speeding along on Soul's motorcycle, almost there, when Soul surprised Maka by saing, "Don't try to cover up if you still feel like crap, okay?"

Confused, Maka said, "Where did that come from?"

"I don't know. It just seemed really sudden. You were screaming in the middle of the nigh last night, and now you're happy and smiling."

"Should I not be happy and smiling?"

"You know what I mean," he said back as he parked the motorcycle and they both go off it. The walked over a little ways towards the store. "I just don't want you to suddenly have a breakdown or something, that's all."

She looked at him, but he refused to meet her gaze. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Maka, if you don't know the answer to that, then you are seriously stupid," he said.

"I'm gonna be okay, Soul," she said like it was obvious. "You don't need to treat me any different. _I_ haven't really changed as a person."

They reached their destination. "Well, for now," he said as they walked through the doors. "Enjoy!"

**Alright, not bad, I guess. For me, at least. I probably made a bijillion grammatical errors, but i'll fix that later! I actually wrote chapter 3 &4 just now, but I split it up into 2 parts cus its like 7 pages o.0**

**lol anyways, please leave a . :)**


	4. Downside Up

**Alright, here's the next chapter! *huzzah* I've been getting tons of story subscriptions and some very nice comments, so thank you all so much ^_^ **

**I actually wrote this when I wrote chapter 3, but it ended up being so freaking long, and even then, I cut it short o.0 i didn't really want to post 2 in the same day, tho.**

**Don't forget to leave a comment! Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater. Do I seriously even need to put this?**

Chapter 4- Downside Up

Maka's eyes immediately lit up when she saw the new books that had come out, including one to a series she was in to. She dashed over to the section, leaving Soul completely behind. He smirked as he went over to an isolated spot where no one was around in a corner. He pulled out his ipod, stuck in the earphones, and put the hoodie to the sweater he was wearing over his eyes. He tuned the volume on to full blast, not really giving a damn who heard it, and closed his eyes.

Soul, although he would never in a million years admit it to anyone, actually didn't mind the bookstore as much as he said he did. It was actually nice to be able to sit around and do nothing while listening to his ipod (although he somehow managed to fit that in wherever he went). Only people like Maka admitted to loving bookstores, though.

_Why are you being so nice to me?_

Soul had thought that it was going to be really hard to not harass Maka, but truthfully, he was more relaxed around her when he didn't have to make fun of her. He did care about her, he just never really showed that side unless she was hurt. Which she was. But it was still a great excuse to not have to think of things to tease her about. Although, it wasn't really as hard as he was making it sound, he thought. Soul didn't even know what he was thinking anymore.

He was thinking again. He swore to himself when he came in that he would space out and not have to think about shit. So he cleared all thoughts from his head, just as he felt someone poke him.

_Probably just Maka asking if I have a few singles to loan her,_ he thought. He didn't look very approachable, so everyone usually left him alone. He lazily opened his eyes to find two other people in front of him. Both girls, around his age. The first one had red hair that was obviously dyed, short and choppy, with brown eyes, while the other girl had wavy blonde hair and blue eyes. The red hired girl looked nervous but the blonde looked friendly. Soul took off only one of his earphones and let his music continue to play. "Yeah?"

The blonde smiled and said, "Hi! My friend lost her wallet. Have you seen it?" The red haired girl only nodded.

_Pathetic._

"No, sorry," he said. He was about to put his earphone back in when blondie said, "Can you help us look for it? We'll pay you when we find it!" The redhead blushed a little bit.

Soul had literally had this same situation happen to him at least twice or three times before. He would agree (mostly because they were hot) and would be paired with one of the girls while the other one or two went off to "look" on the other side of the store. The girl tried to make conversation with him, and the friends would have dropped the wallet/cell phone/whatever on the floor, only to pick it up and say, "Oh, we found it!" They would thank him and the girl he was paired with would ask him on a date. In the beginning he said yes, but he began to feel like he was dating the same girl over and over again.

Soul decided that he'd rather sit around listening to music, half-sleeping, then put so much effort int all that crap. Maybe another day, but he was too tired from being woken up last night to care. "Sorry," he replied. "I'm bad at finding stuff. Really. But," he pointed over to a cashier. "I'm sure they'll help you. Good luck." And with that, he put his earphone back in and closed his eyes. He knew that the girls didn't leave at first, but then heard a bitchy, "Thanks," from the blonde before hearing footsteps walk away.

Soul sighed of relief. He then spaced out for a long period of time, which he deeply enjoyed. Time went by. And more time. After going through too many songs to count, Soul thought, _Where's Maka? Usually she would have finished a while ago. _He thought maybe it was because she hadn't gone in over a week- a new record for her. He decided that he didn't want to spend too much time here, God forbid anyone he knew saw him, and opened his eyes to scan the store for his meister.

He got freaked out a little when he found her sitting right next to her, reading. He let out a breath, keeping his cool. "God, you scared me."

She looked up from her book. "Huh? Oh, sorry. My bad," and she returned back to reading.

Soul got up and stretched a little. He then took and earbud out of his ear and looked at what she was reading. She only had three books in her pile, one of which was the new volume to some girly manga.

He said, "You gonna get those?"

Maka had known Soul long enough to know this was his cue for, Let's go, I'm bored. "Yep," she said as she stood up. "I'm gonna go buy these, I'll be right back."

He nodded and took down his hoodie, letting in a bunch of light. When he looked up, he saw blondie looking over at him with a what-the-hell? expression on her face. Redhead just looked petrified, like he had ripped apart a kid's teddy bear and spit on it. He shot them a questioning look that had a hint of a sneer in it, and they both looked away quickly, the redhead blushing like crazy.

Maka walked over to Soul then, bag of books in her hand and said, "Here." She tossed him a pack of his favorite gum.

"What's this?" he asked.

She shrugged, "It's nothing. Just a really small thank you gift, I guess. It was up by the register, so, yeah. Alright, ready?"

"Definitely," he said, throwing a sharp look at the girls when Maka wasn't looking. They walked out, over to the motorcycle.

Along the way, Maka asked a question that took Soul by surprise. "Why didn't you want to go out with her?"

Taken aback, Soul asked, "How did you know?"

She said, "I just overheard while I was by the manga section."

He replied to her first question, "I guess I just know her type by now."

"I thought hot girl was your type," Maka (half)joked.

He laughed. "Yeah, well, I'm as shocked as you are." Out of nowhere, he got distracted again by the fact that she seemed totally back to normal. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Maka was silent for a while, thinking. Then, she said, "In my dream last night...I was with my mom, and everything was great. But then she just started disappearing. The last thing she said before she was gone was, 'Be good'."

Soul was quietly listening to her. "And I thought that...if my mom were still here, she wouldn't want me to be depressed." She turned to him, misunderstanding him for spacing out instead of thinking deeply about what she said. "Sorry, I know you don't really care about the details..."

He shrugged. "I don't mind. In fact, I'm kind of jealous of you. Not because your mom is dead, just because she gave a damn about you." He looked at her for a brief moment. "You were lucky, I guess."

Maka stared at him. She was so indebted to him. He turned this moment into something for her to appreciate. He slept by her bed when she had a nightmare, made her breakfast and even sat through the bookstore for hours for her without complaining. Not to mention he didn't make fun of or tease her that bad this entire time.

And before she knew it, she had turned towards him and hugged him tight. At first, Soul didn't do anything out of shock. He froze, not knowing whether to tease her in some way or hug her back. He went for the latter, for once in his life, and hugged her back. And once he did, he really didn't want to stop. He just wanted to keep hugging her. He held her tighter and just stayed like that. He had absolutely no idea what came over him, but he just wanted to keep her close to him.

"Thank you, Soul," Maka whispered in his ear. "I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you." He felt her start to release him, and he fought off the urge to not let her. So he let go of her and put on his cool face.

"Don't mention it."

After that, the two walked only a little farther down until the motorcycle was next to them. They both got on and Maka wrapped her arms around Soul's waist, like always, and leaned against his back. When Soul had sped off towards their home, he begun to ask himself what the hell that was all about. One minute, he was in a corner with his hoodie over his head, blasting music out of his earphones, rejecting two cute girls. The next, he was actually hugging Maka. And _he_ was the one who didn't want to pull away. He had completely lost his cool for a moment.

Soul shook his head to clear his mind.

Maka couldn't get the fact that Soul had actually rejected a girl as hot as that redhead. Maybe Soul was just out of it today, because if it were any other day, he would have gladly gone along with her games just to take her out. Especially if Black Star or somebody else was watching. And then there was the hug. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something felt different there. She shook the thoughts from her head and assumed that she was imagining it, as they sped off in the afternoon sun.

**Holy crap, that was kinda cheesy o.0 Well, there is still yet to come! Prepare yourselves! Alice-chan out! ^_^**


	5. Warm Surprise

**hi hi! haven't had any comments for the last chapter :( but, regardless, i will write this next chapter as best as i can!**

**PLEASE leave a comment? it makes my writing better, i swear!**

**disclaimer: i have not owned soul eater the last 4 times, so i wont now**

Chapter 5- Warm Surprise

"Where are we going, Soul? It doesn't look like we're headed home…" Maka asked as the warm air cut through her face, speeding past her and weaving through her blondish hair. She had her arms wrapped tight across her partner, who was leading them on his motorcycle to a place Maka couldn't specify.

"You'll see," he said as he turned a sharp left, onto a busy road. Maka looked all around her, taking in her surroundings. They had stopped home momentarily to drop off the books before Soul told her they needed to go someplace else.

Maka knew the street that they were at now, although she couldn't quite put her finger on it. It was amazing how much time she could lose herself in the bookstore, she thought when she noted the deeper colors that were fading the bright blue sky of earlier today. Shades of purple and red began to streak across the nearly cloudless sky, and the maniacal moon was just beginning to rise above the eerie buildings in Death City. The streets were littered with people who were trying to finish shopping before the day ended. It was so familiar and nostalgic, but Maka could not for the life of her remember what this place was.

Soul weaved through the streets for little while, knowing just how lame this was going to be. Maka didn't even know where they were. He thought that maybe coming here like they used to would make her feel better. He kept trying to remind himself that what he was doing was because she was his meister, and he couldn't stand to see his meister so messed up. For some weird, unknown reason, though, this didn't stick with him.

He actually kind of wanted to surprise Maka, so he found a parking space located just a minute from where he was going. When he stopped in front of some store that was close, Maka looked confused. "Uh, this isn't it. We're walking a little bit to the place," Soul said, answering her unspoken question. Maka nodded. They walked for a little while before Soul said, "Close your eyes."

Maka looked at him for a moment, but she obeyed and shut her eyes. Soul knew she wouldn't peek- she loved surprises. Soul took Maka's hand as he lead her down the street a little ways. He actually felt nervous inside. Him, nervous? He quickly shoved the feeling down, surprising it, and scanned his eyes, looking for the place. At last, he saw it, sitting across the street, and crossed over to it.

"Are we there yet?" Maka asked, sounding a little childish.

"Yeah," Soul replied as they both stood and faced the place. "Open your eyes."

Maka hesitated for a moment. Sou hardly ever surprised her. Only during the holidays with small gifts that were obviously only given so she wouldn't Maka-chop him. This time, he actually wanted to do something for her, and he seemed sincere and even nervous about it. She didn't want this moment to end, but her curiosity overpowered her. _1…..2…..3! _She snapped her eyes open.

It took a second for her eyes to adjust, but all at once, everything came flooding in. The decorations, the colors, the blinking, white lights, the happy, smiling people. As everything came into finer detail, she saw the bushes with the colorful flowers that embroidered the quaint little shop, the bench which held countless memories, and even the little machine-horse that took a quarter to ride was still stationed in the exact same spot. Maka gasped.

It was the old ice cream parlor.

She didn't know exactly why, but for some reason, this was the best place Soul could've ever taken her to. The bookstore could not possibly compare with that of the shop that held all of her childhood memories. Well, not exactly _childhood- _after all, she had only known this place for about four or five years. It started out that Soul would take her here whenever she got a bad grade on a test or failed a mission. But, after a little while, they ended up coming here nearly every day for the cheap, frozen treats. Maka remembered how, when they first got to know each other, they would play 20 questions here all the time. Of course, there were many things that he had kept from her, but he did answer most of them. After 20 questions was over, they just went here to hang out. But after about two years, they just stopped coming. Maka became even _more_ studious, spending a lot of time at the bookstore. Soul felt like he was getting too old for it, and he thought it was uncool. And, well, you know Soul- once he thinks something is uncool, that's it.

So Maka just stood there, gazing in astonishment at the wonderful place. Soul looked at her and immediately concluded that this was't as good as he thought it'd be, judging by the fact that she wasn't laughing or smiling or jumping up and down or whatever girls do when they freak out. But when he stared a little bit harder at those eyes, he noticed how big they had become, and he saw that look of wonder in them. And it would have been impossible to not notice the delighted grin that spread itself far across her mouth. She laughed, a heartwarming, carefree laugh. Seeing Maka like this made Soul very content, and he watched her smile like that for a while. After a moment, his own lips began to twitch, and before he knew it, the smile had become contagious.

"Soul…" she breathed. "This is….incredible."

He turned his smile into a satisfied grin as he said, "C'mon. Let's not stay out here too long. You might get cold." He led her inside the old store, still holding her hand.

And even though it was pretty cold outside- almost to the point where you could see your breath, Soul was completely warm inside.

**This one was pretty short because I know the next one will be really long, and I didn't want to combine them or else I might bore you. Anyways, please comment? 333 And we will get to hear from everybody else in the next chapter! I promi- er, I'll try my best! ^_^**


	6. Cold Memories

**So I would just like to say thank you soooooo much everybody who commented, i saw all the comments and all the story subscriptions, and i was like 3333.**

**I do apologize, though. i think I might've went just a little overboard with the fluffiness on the last chapter. There **_is _**a specific reason for that, and I will try to incorporate that and another thing into the next few chapters as best as I can.**

**As always, don't forget to comment! Disclaimer:….yeah**

**Now things start to get interesting! So, let's start, shall we?**

Chapter 6

As soon as Maka walked into the ice cream shop, a rush of cold air blasted her, making her shiver. The thought had only just occurred to her that it may have been strange to get ice cream when it was 40 degrees outside, but she ignored it, focusing only on the message behind coming here. There were still a few small groups of people who sat inside, laughing and talking. The people who worked there looked genuinely happy, and the colorful lights that had been hung up on the cotton candy-colored walls made Maka remember the better times; the easier times.

She took a deep breath and let it out, finding solace in the little place. She walked over to the ice cream and gazed at all the different selections. Even the desserts were vivid and colorful! Maka scanned over each possibility, walking over a bit to see them all. When at long last she had made her decision, she walked up to the register and said, confident, "I'll have french vanilla in a cone, please."

Unable to control himself, Soul burst out laughing. Maka turned to him. "What? What?"

Steadying his breathing, he laughed out, "There must be twenty different kinds of ice creme, and at least fifty different toppings, and you pick vanilla in a cone!" He shook his head, grinning wildly, exposing his sharp teeth.

Her cheeks became as red as roses, and she said, "I'm fine with vanilla."

He calmed down. "Okay, okay." He turned to the cashier, and said quickly, "I'll get chocolate, triple fudge layers and cookie dough with hot fudge, caramel, marshmallows, gummy bears, and why don't you throw a few snickers bars in there. Got it?"

"Sure!" smiled the perky woman standing behind the register. She had, by some miracle, managed to write every word down without asking him to repeat it. Maka gave a soft laugh, remembering how this used to be a game between them; if he could order so fast that the person behind the counter asked him to repeat it, Maka would give him "cool points". He never actually counted them, claiming that no amount of points would be able to determine how cool he was.

"Here you go, ma'am," cheered one of the employees from behind the counter, holding out her cone.

"Oh," Maka returned to reality, "Thank you."

"And here you go, sir!" The woman held out Soul's bowl, and it was absolutely humongous. The different flavors of ice cream were covered by a river of hot fudge and caramel. Marshmallows and gummy bears dotted the sculpture, and two snicker's bars shot up from beneath the mountain of desserts. Soul took it with one hand- unbelievably- as he handed the money to the employee. "Come again," she shouted as we walked out into the cool night.

Noticing the temperature, Soul turned and said, "Sorry. I know that this was kind of a bad night to get this," he lifted up the ice cream that was still held in one of his hands.

But Maka shook her head. "It's the perfect night to get this." She gave a gratuitous smile at Soul. They headed over to the worn out bench and sat down, just like the old days. Maka began to lick away at her ice cream meticulously, being completely aware of any dripping that might have occurred. Soul dug head first into his, munching at everything at once. Maka could already tell by his determination that he would finish first. She swung her legs back and forth beneath the bench, happily enjoying her cone

"Mommy, tell me what happened this time!"

Maka looked over to see a little girl, no older than six, with freckles. Her blondish brown hair was up in pigtails and a she had a cute little dress on. She had brown eyes, but if you were to look very hard, you would see the little spots of green that shimmered in them. In one hand was a kid-sized ice cream cone, vanilla ice cream dripping down the sides, and in the other was the hand of a beautiful woman. She was tall and slim, with long legs and blonde hair. Her eyes a nice shade of greenish-blue, and they focused themselves on her daughter. The look on that little girl's face was one that clearly displayed admiration and love. The mother returned the look.

Maka's eyes were wide. She fixed them on the pair, who had just exited the shop and went to sit on a small outside table that sat next to the display window. She sighed, but it was a happy sigh. "Oh, all right, just one more time."

Delighted, the girl looked up at her mother, expectantly. She leaned forward, hoisting her tiny body up on the table a little bit. Her mother began, "Well, I was with my translator, Macy, in Switzerland, and we were walking around the streets, wandering, when…." she quieted down, and her daughter leaned forward a little more, eager. The woman threw up her arms, "A gigantic monster popped up out of nowhere!"

The little girl shrieked. "What did you do?"

The woman smiled. "Well, obviously, Macy was scared, but I told her, 'Don't worry, just change into your weapon form!' She looked at me like I was some crazy person, but she did, and turned into a flaming sword!" The girl squealed in delight. "So I went up to the monster and I shouted, 'This is your last chance!' But he didn't listen to me. So I slashed him with the sword! Slash slash slash!" she added for emphasis, to which the girl cheered. "And after that, it went _poof _and it was defeated!" Even though it was terribly obvious that it did not go down that way, the girl, convinced, applauded and cheered for her mother. Her mother half-bowed, careful not to reveal the long scar on her neck that had been hidden by her hair.

Maka suddenly saw herself in that seat, sitting across from _her _mom. Her mom used to describe all of the stories like this until Maka became to old for them, and wanted to know what exactly happened. Her mother had been careful to tell her of her injuries. Seeing this made Maka freeze. She didn't cry, she didn't whimper, she didn't do anything. At first. As the conversation between the two grew, and the mom focused on her daughter and her life, Maka began to shake. She shook a little harder. Her body was becoming weak.

Soul, who had just finished his treat and had been oblivious to anything else, cheered, "Yeah! Finished it!" He looked to Maka and saw that she was shaking. Misunderstanding, he said, "Oh, are you cold? Would you rather go home now?"

Maka didn't hear anything. Not a word. She didn't think about anything. Her body became shakier and shakier until the point when she dropped the cone, fingers too weak to hold it properly. The white ice cream spattered all over the ground below her.

Knowing that something was wrong, Soul looked at Maka once again, and saw violent shivers pass through her. Startled at this and at her sudden release of the cone, he asked, "Maka, are you okay?" When she didn't respond, he started panicking. He got up. "Maka? Maka?" He stepped in the puddle of cream and sat on his feet, grasping her shoulders. "Maka! Answer me!"

But her mind was far, far way. She was having a flashback.

_"Mom, when will you come back?"_

No! She would not think about this! As if to mock her, the scene continued in her head.

_"I won't be gone for long, Maka. I promise." She smiled at her daughter. The last smile from her mom she was ever to see._

_Maka paused before responding with, "Okay. Take care, Mom."_

_Her mom kissed the top of her forehead, like always. "Of course! Now, you be good. And…try not to overwork yourself."_

_She blushed, a little embarrassed. "Yeah…I'll try not to."_

_Before she left, her mom stared into Maka's beautiful eyes. "I _will _be back, Maka. You know that."_

_A little confused at the turn of the conversation, Maka replied, "I know."_

_Her mom just kept staring at her for a little while. Then, she kneeled down and took Maka into her arms, embracing her. A bit taken aback, Maka hugged her mom back, silently._

_"Be good," Maka's mom said into her daughter's hair._

_Maka smiled. "I know."_

And before she knew it, Maka was somehow on the ground. Her head was in something warm and something cold. She thought that maybe the cold thing was her ice cream, as she no longer felt it in her hand, but she couldn't place the warm thing. She considered blood, as her head ponded nine times as hard as her heart. She felt like she was screaming, but she couldn't tell- she couldn't hear anything. Everything- all the colorful lights, the night, the girl and her mom- were fading away.

But she did feel one more thing. In her hand. Something warm and firm. And, right before she succumbed to the darkness, she saw a glimpse of white and two spots of red that looked directly into her eyes.

**Wow. I am so freaking excited about this! Triple quadruple mega please comment! Things are getting exciting X)))**

**Well, i guess after double reading this, I could have done much better, but it will have to do! **

**again, triple quadra- whatever, just comment ^_^**


	7. One Last Goodbye

**For Kassie. **

Chapter 7- One Last Goodbye

It was black. Pitch-black. Except around her-for some reason, she was glowing. She could breathe, but she felt like she was swimming. Swimming through the dark.

And there was something there. Waiting for her. She had no idea what it was, but she knew she had to get there. So she kept on swimming. Swimming through nothing. Pushing herself past nothing.

She had become nothing. And she curled up into a ball, feeling so alone that her heart beat echoed on and on, until it, too, seemed too lonely to continue on, and stopped beating.

"Maka."

She turned around through the thick nothingness, and found herself face-to-face with her mom. Mom. She needed to look at her. It had been almost a year since she had seen her mom. So she observed everything about her, as her mom did the same back. Her golden hair was still long and beautiful. Her body was still long and fragile-looking, although she believed in her silent heart that she was still strong. She, too, glowed. Far brighter than her daughter.

But the thing that stood out the most were her eyes that mirrored Maka's. The only thing she felt like she inherited from her mom. Those deep green eyes that can always make you feel at home.

Except now, they were cold.

"Mom."

She floated towards her mom, coming closer and closer. All the while, she couldn't possible look away from those eyes. They were sad, too. Sad, cold eyes. They looked at Maka with such an intensity that she could not help but to come closer and stare more and more. When she had reached her mother, she did the strangest thing. She lifter her hands to her mother's face and stroked her eyelids. She had absolutely no idea why she felt so compelled to do this, but at that point, she did not want to think. She wanted to take her all in. She didn't want to just be restricted to just looking into those eyes. She needed to feel them physically. She needed to hold onto those eyes.

Because the moment they left her again would be the moment she'd fall apart.

"Maka."

She nodded in reply.

"I'm not gone."

Maka pondered this for a long time. She floated there, in that same position, thinking. Except, for once, she didn't think with her mind. She felt everything. As if her heart had a mind of its own. Her mother was dead. But she was far from gone. She nodded again.

"I know."

Her mother smiled. Her eyes were still cold though.

"I'm sorry, Mom," Maka said, knowing she was the reason for her distress.

As if amused, her mother laughed, a little light shining in her eyes. "Oh, Maka. You don't get it."

Maka waited.

Her mother continued. "No matter how far away I am, I can feel you with me. Every time you would smile or laugh, no matter where, I _felt_ something inside of me. Like…..a little ball of warmth." She took Maka's hand, placing it on her heart. To her surprise, she felt a heartbeat. "You have the most touching smile, Maka, do you know that?" She giggled a little bit and said, "You should be happy more. For about a week, I just felt nothing. I feel more and more like I was dead. But then," she took Maka's hand and held it. She was warm. "You started to smile again. And I was alive again." She laughed.

Maka didn't know how to respond to this. She just kept staring into her eyes that now held a bit of warmth in them. Then, she laughed. "Do you know how ridiculous you sound right now? You sound like someone out of a book or something." She laughed again.

And the little light that had been burning lowly in her mothers eyes lit up. She laughed back. "Yeah, probably!" She sighed, peaceful, looking back at Maka. "But you know, I think they may have been on to something."

Maka giggled, like she was a child again. Her heart was feeling warmer. She hugged her mom. "You're amazing, Mom."

Her mother wrapped her arms around her baby. "You're exactly like how I was when I was your age, Maka. You're ambitious and hardworking. You're devoted. A bookworm," she laughed at this one a little. "But you know," she got a little bit more serious. "You're also kind and beautiful."

"Mom," Maka said, contradicting her on that last part. "I'm not beautiful, really. You should see the other girls."

"Oh, but you are. And I am not just saying that because I'm your mom, trust me."

She sighed. "Yeah, okay, Mom."

They were quiet for a while, still hugging. Maka held her tighter. "Don't go."

Now it was her mom's turn to sigh. "I know it's tough, baby, but you'll get through it. And," she said, releasing her hold on Maka, "You are driving Soul absolutely insane."

Surprised that Soul had ended up in the conversation, she asked, "What?"

"I think it's time for me to go now, Maka."

Shocked, she cried, "No! You can't leave! Not yet! I still have things I need to talk to you about!"

Her mom took her child's face. "It doesn't work like that, unfortunately. But, if you ever need me, I'll be listening. I promise."

She began to fade away. _Just like the dream. _Maka angrily fought back tears. "You also promised that you would come back!"

"Oh, that," said her mom as she slipped away. "You'll know about that soon enough."

"What does that mean? Where are you going?"

All at once, the tears started cascading down, as her will to hold them back wore down. She sunk to her knees in the nothingness.

"What am I supposed to do now?"

She smiled at her daughter. "Be okay."

The words changed. _Be good, _it had been. Hadn't it? "Wait!"

Her mom's light died out.

**I cried writing this. **

**Comment please. Sorry if this made you sad. Be okay :)**


	8. Broken

**Sorry, I know it's been a while (for me, at least) since i updated this, but I've been having writers block o.0 I had no idea how to start this chapter. I'll do my best though. **

**Okay, here I go!**

**(Commentcommentcomment!)**

Chapter 8- Broken

"Soul?"

Maka was just shifting into consciousness. She didn't know why she just said that, but it was the first thing that stumbled out of her mouth as the darkness evaporated into bright lights. Maka would have expected the lights to be comforting after being completely surrounded by the dark, but they just pained her eyes. They weren't even warm like the other light.

The light of her mom.

As her eyes slowly began to open and the harsh light flooded her eyes, a small, incessant noise beeped. Mumbling could be heard in the background. Maka tried to decipher the words, but she couldn't even tell where she was at the moment. All she knew was that she was cold. Always cold.

A tall figure shadowed over part of the light, relieving Maka's eyes somewhat. It was saying something to her, but she could not for the life of her hear what it was. A few more shadowy figures cast themselves in front of her, almost completely blocking out the light. As the light decreased, her eyes were able to adjust and make out the details of the figures in front of- or _over_- her. They were dressed in pale blue and white, and eventually, Maka could tell that their clothing consisted of scrubs, masks and gloves. The beeping noise continued.

Maka blinked. "Where….am I?" was all she managed to get out.

She was beginning to understand what the voices were saying. "….should be okay, didn't lose too much blood." "Well, that's good." "Oh! It looks like she's awake!" "Give her some space, I'll take care of this."

Disoriented, she laid there while the shadows began to move out, relinquishing the light they had fought off. She squinted. One figure still remained, still taking arms against the overbearing light. It spoke, "Hello, there, Miss Maka! Looks like your coming around. Can you blink twice for me?" Obviously a doctor who was under the impression he was dealing with a five year old.

Maka directed her attention to her eyes, which had, apparently, been open. She didn't even realize…how did she not notice? So this was why all of the light was coming in! Well, she _did _blink and squint before, but it had just never registered in her mind that she was conscious and awake.

Remembering that she had instructions to fulfill, she slowly blinked her eyes twice. The doctor gave a goofy smile. "Good! Now can you try sitting up for me?"

_Screw you, _she thought, but then quickly shoved it aside. She concentrated on all of her muscles. First, she directed her palms to the bed. Next, she applied force and used her stomach muscles to help. After her body was positioned up, she leaned back against the bed frame behind her. _Why did I need to think like that? I'm not slow, I know how to sit up….._

The doctor was quite satisfied. "Alrighty! Looks like you're okay for now. Here," he handed her a glass of water. "Drink that. The nurse should be here shortly." And with that, he walked out of the room, leaving Maka confused and with no explanation to her condition. She decided to drink the water first. To her surprise, her hand was shaking as she tried to lift the glass to her face. She carefully sipped the water before gently setting it back down on the small table beside her. She then looked around. Immediately, she could tell that she was in a hospital. The walls and floor tiles in the small room she was in were white and everything felt incredibly sterile. Not a single trace of dust could be found on the bedside table or on the chairs that sat against the wall. As Maka's eyes scanned over every part of the near-empty room, she saw a person sitting in one of those chairs.

_Soul._

She could tell it was him as soon as she saw him, sleeping. His head rested on his shoulder, allowing his spiky, white hair to lean to the side a bit. Maka was reminded of yesterday morning, when he was peacefully snoring as he stayed by her side. It was almost the same, although his once peaceful expression had been slightly altered. The slight dive in his eyebrows indicated that worry had been etched into him, and his body was tense instead of relaxed and comfortable.

_You are driving Soul absolutely insane._

She stuck her face in her hands as she realized the enormous truth in those words. Guilt crept up on her, weaving itself through her eyes that tried not to focus on his distressed body. She sighed.

As if this had been a call to him, Soul's eyes snapped open. He blinked hard a few times, as it was now his eyes that were under attack. He quickly fought off the urge to rest them again as he gazed around the room. His eyes rested upon Maka, face still buried in her hands. Relieved that she was not dead, he jerked his body up and cried, "Maka! You're awake!"

She snapped up her head. "Soul…."

He walked over to her and sat on her bed. He grabbed her by the shoulders- not firmly, but in a more cautious manner, like she would turn to dust at any moment. "God, are you okay?" He stared into her eyes, looking for an answer.

"Um…I think so."

He thrust her body towards him, forcing her into a hug. This one had that same small feeling that was hidden in it before, except now, it blazed with an intensity very powerful. She didn't know what it was. She just knew it was okay. He squeezed her now. She tried to hug him back, but she could barely sit up right without processing her movements. So she sat there and let him hug her, guilt slowly spreading through her. She rested her head on his shoulder, losing all the strength she possessed as she succumbed to the whispers guilt spoke.

_It's all your fault._

She didn't dare make a sound as she allowed one single tear to escape and drop down her cheek. That was it. If Soul were to see her this broken, he'd be even more concerned, and she would not cause him any more pain. She would be okay. For him and for her mom. Her dying wish was for Maka to be okay, and goddammit, she was going to be okay if it killed her. So she summoned every ounce of strength that hid in her and hugged him back. She tried to mirror him and hold him tight. She held him until he said, "Thank God you're okay."

_Yes. I am. I am definitely okay._

Maka heard footsteps coming from the hall towards her room. She release Soul, thankful, as she wouldn't have ben able to endure it much longer. Soul let go of her, too, and stood up as the nurse finally entered the room. She held a file which consisted of some papers. She was able to read out the small letters on it that spelled out _Maka Albarn _scratched on the front. The nurse had a polite and kind expression as she said, "Hello, Maka. How are you feeling?"

Maka tried as best as she could to smile. "I'm okay."

It seemed convincing enough for the nurse. "Great! Do you feel like you can walk?" When Maka hesitated, she said, "If not, then it's no problem. I'll just have the appointment held in here then."

Maka didn't know what that meant. "Um, appointment?"

"I'll just get the doctor for you. Wait here for a moment please." She walked out of the room before Maka could ask anything else.

Confused, Maka stuttered, "But…but, th-the doctor was just in here…." She looked to Soul, who had the same expression on his face as he shrugged his shoulders. He then turned back to her and sat back down on the chair by the bed. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She smiled. "I'm fine, Soul. Really."

He stared at her. He couldn't really tell if she was lying or not. So he just sighed and said, "Well, don't try to hide it if you are. You won't help anyone."

She didn't say anything.

Maka relaxed a little bit. She felt tired- no, actually, it was more like lightheaded. So she closed her eyes and waited for the doctor to come back.

Soul watched over her. She looked a little bit better, but still bad. At least not as bad as she was at first. He remembered the incident; how her body had gone limp and fallen, how her head crashed against the concrete ground, how the blood mixed with the melted ice cream, how her eyes were empty when she laid there. Luckily, the hospital was nearby, and they came in under ten minutes. Still, they were saying that it was very likely she had a concussion, and possibly even a coma. So much blood had been spilled. It was horrible to look at, but he vowed not to tear his eyes away from her the whole time. He sat back in the chairs and watched her as the doctors performed small operations on her and stuck needles in her.

Of course, he had called her father (reluctantly), Blair (mostly to warn her not to invite guys over, although she was actually concerned about Maka's well being) and everyone else. Her father, to Soul's complete surprise, had not been out of his house much or had women over since he, too, received a letter of his own. He came twice and called every few hours to check up on Maka. Soul heard the stress in his voice and reminded himself to tell Maka of these shocking traits of her dad's as soon as she got out. Tsubaki had also come twice, bringing flowers, and Black Star was silent (!) for most of the time, except before leaving, when he said to the unconscious Maka, "Just my presence here is a sign of good fortune." He smirked, "One of the Gods has come!" As a present for when she woke up, Kid arranged everything in the room to be perfectly symmetrical, squealing with delight at his accomplishment when he finished. After face-palming herself for Kid's actions, Liz wished Maka good health before allowing a still perky Patty to present a unicorn picture she had drawn, to which Soul had replied, "It's very good." (The last time Patty drew something and Soul criticized it, bad things happened.)

When everyone left, Soul had slumped back into a chair, exhausted. He had tried to keep his eyes focused on Maka, but his fatigue won the best of him, and he had fallen asleep. Soon enough, he woke up to find Maka awake, with her head in her hands. Remembering this made Soul take a closer look at the Maka he was staring at. She had deep circled under her eyes and her head rested in hair that was undone and knotted, still sticky from ice cream and blood.

He let out a breath. He had no idea why or how this happened, but he had a feeling that if he didn't bring her to the old parlor, she wouldn't be laying down in a hospital with a concussion.

**BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! comment now and you'll also receive another chapter as soon as possible! thats right! all this and more for just a comment!**

**ahaha, oh, im so clever ;)**

**but seriously, comment**

**eeeeeee im so excited! please excuse me if i made grammatical errors, its midnight where i am :P**

**cant wait for next chapter X)**


	9. It All Floods Out

**Woot Woot! Thank you guys for the comments and subscriptions ^_^ I get a little happier whenever I see it in my mail! So, that being said, keep commenting! :)))**

Chapter 9- It All Comes Out

She wasn't seeing a physical doctor. She was seeing a therapist.

'

Maka resisted the urge to face-palm herself when she found out, later in the meeting. The nurse brought in a man wearing jeans and a shirt. His name tag that was on the lab coat he was wearing read "Dr. Joseph Palmadoro". He wasn't grinning in the goofy, fake way the other doctor was. He had on a pleasant smile and walked up to a chair that was near the bed and asked, "Hello. I'm Dr. Palmadoro. I'm here to pretty much double check that you're brain hasn't had any serious trauma. Or yourself for that matter." He flipped through a few pages in his clipboard he was holding. "It says here that you passed out shortly after hurting your head. Can you remember that?"

Embarrassed, Maka said, "Yes."

"Okay, well why don't you tell me what happened. Do you know why you fell?"

Maka thought back to last night. She remembered as soon as she thought back how everything happened. She shuddered just thinking about it, but hid it so the doctor wouldn't get suspicious. "Um, yeah. Well….." She tried to think where a good place to begin would be. "Um, well…..I…." _Might as well get this over with. _"I just…saw something and got kind of freaked out, that's all."

He nodded. "Do you remember what it was?"

_Crap. _For some reason, she just really did not want to talk about this. She rubbed her arm. Soul was looking at her, too, curious for an answer. _I can't tell him,_ she thought. _I can't make him worry more. _"No, not really….."

Dr. Palmadoro just nodded again and scribbled something down on the clipboard. Maka tried to avoid Soul's stare. It was clear he wasn't convinced. The doctor looked up from the board. "Well, I think you may _possibly_ have a concussion then, I'm sorry to say. Do you remember anything else at all about the incident? Anything at all?"

Maka swallowed. It was obvious she wasn't going to get off the hook so easily. It was better that she come clean then be treated for a concussion. She closed her eyes and admitted, "Yeah."

He looked interested. "All right. What can you remember?"

She paused. For a long time. Her eyes were focused on one tile on the floor. Knowing how bad he next few moments would be, she said, "Everything."

Maka told him everything. About the letter, her depression, her nightmares. Her attempts to be okay again, her adventures of the previous day, her journey to the ice cream place. The little girl and the mom, blacking out, her vision of her mom.

Everything.

And, as terrifying as it was to know that everything was out in the open, it was so _good_. All of her supressed feelings and thoughts rushed out, yet all the while Maka kept her eyes shut, afraid to see the look on Soul's face. When she had said everything and more, she kept her eyes closed. She heard the doctor scribbling down things, not saying a word (which, for some reason, kinda pissed Maka off.) She waited for Soul's response, but none came. She considered opening her eyes, but she knew she wouldn't be able to handle it if even a stitch more of worry had been sewn into his face. So she kept her eyes closed, waiting for something to happen.

At long last, the doctor's pen could no longer be heard slashing across the paper. Maka took a deep breath and looked up to the doctor, unable to so much as glimpse at Soul. Dr. Palmadoro met her gaze. He looked concerned. _Oh, God, I knew I shouldn't've done that. _He placed his pen in his coat pocket and sat back. For a while, he didn't say anything. Even Soul didn't say anything, as completely impatient as he was. "Maka…" said the doctor, finally. "I, unfortunately, do not have good news." He paused, trying to think of what to say next. "What you have, I believe, is post-traumatic stress disorder." When Maka didn't respond, he continued. "Obviously, losing your mother seemed to be a very traumatic experience for you." He shifted in his seat. "If you don't mind me asking, do you have a good relationship with your father?"

Maka tensed up. "No," she spat out.

"Well, uh," he was struck by her sudden intensity at the subject. "Oftentimes, when children and young adults have two absent parents or one absent and a bad relationship with the other, a sense of abandonment or loneliness may take place. Losing the parent that you, uh, seemed to feel more attached to may have heightened those feelings. You seemed to have gone through a brief period of trauma before the PTSD had begun to take place."

Soul finally spoke up. "I don't get it." The doctor turned to him. "She was depressed for a while, then she seemed fine. Then…."He didn't need to finish his sentence.

Dr. Palmadoro coughed lightly before responding with, "Yes, well, PTSD doesn't have to kick in right away. What Miss Albarn seemed to have had in the beginning stage was just shock. That wore off, it seems, but PTSD had already begun to take place in her system. Also, it isn't something that is very obvious. Usually, it has a trigger; for example, uh….if I had been in a war, a simple gunshot may be my trigger, and cause me to react. In Miss Albarn's case-"

"Call me Maka please," Maka interrupted. She hated hearing 'Miss Albarn'.

"Maka. In Maka's case, seeing a scenario which had reminded her of times she had spent with her mother may cause the symptoms to set in quickly. She blacked out, in this case, which is a common reaction, as are the nightmares. However, in doing so her body lost control of its muscle movements and she fell head-first into concrete cement.

"On the bright side, though," Dr. Palmadoro changed the heavy topic, "You don't seem to have a concussion. You were very lucky, in that manner. Physically, you just lost some blood and are going to have swelling. I do recommend staying in bed for tomorrow, though. And I must also recommend weekly therapy to help you through your PTSD."

_Oh, God, I'm never gonna hear the end of this, _Maka thought. She shoved away the thought and instead told herself, _No, this is something I need to do. What if I don't and then the same situation happened again, but in front of a lot of people? Plus, I still do have those nightmares, and I can't keep waking Soul up in the middle of the night. No, I have to do this. _"Sure, whatever," she said.

"Great. If you'll excuse me for just a moment, I need to put some papers away and get new forms." Dr. Palmadoro left the room, leaving Maka and Soul together. Terrified, Maka closed her eyes. She had expected Soul to yell at her for not telling her about fighting off the sadness, like he told her, or to at least laugh that she had to go to therapy, or something. The silence was piercing her ears. She needed to say something. Nothing came to mind, though. The air was growing more and more awkward by the moment. She couldn't tell if his silence meant that he was mad at her or if her was worried more or what it was.

"Say something," she finally said. She did not open her eyes.

He didn't say anything for a while. Maka thought he wasn't going to answer her, but then he said, "I don't know what to say."

"Are you mad?"

He laughed at this. _Laughed? _"For someone so smart, you're just so stupid sometimes."

Maka snapped her eyes open at this and stared at him, confused and just a little angry. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He shook his head, grinning. "You knew you could've said something to me, but instead, you kept it inside. You think that makes you strong or something?"

She snorted. "No offense, Soul," (offense intended) "But you hardly seem like the kind of person to talk to about feelings."

"It doesn't matter what it's about. If there's something that's hurting you," he gritted his teeth, "I'm _supposed_ to be there."

"You're not always gonna be able to protect me, Soul!"

He fell silent, no longer grinning. Maka sat, waiting for a response. This seemed to have really stumped him. When she didn't think he was going to respond, she sat back. "You may be able to take the physical blows, but you can't protect me when something like this happens."

"I know that," he scoffed.

"Really?"

He didn't respond. Maka stared at him, but this time, he looked away, refusing to meet _her_ eyes. She had hurt him again.

Trying to relax, she sighed and slumped back against the bed frame. "Look, I'm sorry…"

He didn't look at her as he said, "You don't have to apologize for anything."

"Pfft. Yeah, right."

Now he looked at her. "What are you sorry for?"

"How about putting you through hell?"

"Don't be overdramatic, Maka. It's no big deal-"

"Yeah, it is."

"I just don't understand why you would hide being depressed. That was the only thing that got to me. 'Cause if you're hiding it, how can I possibly help?"

"You can't, Soul! That's the point! Sometimes, shit happens, and you won't be there!" Why was she yelling? "I hid it because I can't even stand to look at your face when I am! Don't pretend like you didn't hide being upset, too! But it was so obvious that you were, and how can I possibly be okay when I know that I'm the one who's making you so upset?"

_Wow, _Maka thought. She didn't even know if she meant half of those things. She just said what came out before thinking about it. How unlike her. Soul didn't seem to know how to respond to this at all. He opened his mouth once like he was going to speak, but then shut it, still maintaining eye contact with Maka. Finally, he looked away and sighed, leaning back against his chair. "Don't yell."

_This was all he could come up with? _

"I want an answer!"

He looked towards her. "What's your question?"

She thought about this for a while. She didn't actually want to ask a question, she just wanted to know that he was listening. "You're not going to be able to help when I have nightmares or when I have flashbacks and black out. You can't prevent them." She just left it like this. They both sat there. Neither one dared to make eye contact with the other as the silence flooded back in the room. So they both patiently waited for the doctor to return.

**Intense. **

**Lol** **Don't lose faith in them! This is still a SoMa, after all. I'm not spoiling anything though, but im excited! its getting closer X)))**

**(By the way, Dr Palmadoro isn't a therapist, the other dude was an intern. a creeper intern. sorry, forgot to fit that in ther X( but my mom's a therapist, so i know about PTSD)**

**Not to sound like a broken record, but leave a comment!**


	10. MikoNeko

**I just came up with an idea that i plan on developing either in this chapter. I don't know exactly how it'll work out, cause i never planned for it, but im gonna try it out. It might get kinda off topic from the description, but it'll help with SoMa. i think.**

**Thanks for the comments and subscribers! Please please please keep it up!**

**Disclaimer; yaddayaddayadda**

**ohkay, here i go!**

Chapter 10- Miko~Neko

Maka walked out of the hospital feeling even worse. She awkwardly had her hands behind her back as she walked alongside Soul, who had his hands in his pockets and an uneasy air around him. Ever since that fight, everything had been silent. Not a peaceful silence, but a blunt, horrible emptiness that just seemed to keep on going. Maka was reaching the edge with it.

After all of the paperwork had (silently) been filled out for her therapy, Maka stayed in the hospital for a few more hours until she had regained her stamina and the blood she had lost. Physically, she felt fine, but there was so much missing inside of her. She was able to keep her mind off of her mom, though, so that was a slight improvement. She guessed. She remembered when the doctor had told her how she had blacked out, not because she was remembering it, but because she was reliving it. Apparently, the symptoms are much more drastic when someone relives the situation then when they remember it. It was still confusing for her, so she shook the thoughts from her head and tried to think about something else.

_It's too quiet._

Maka sighed. Of all things, she had to think about the fact that Soul was refusing to so much as make eye contact with her. She looked over at him, but he was staring at the ground, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. She turned back, also looking at her feet as she walked. When they reached it, they both wordlessly got on the motorcycle, Maka lifelessly putting her arms around Soul's waist for support. He was completely unaffected by this and started the engine, riding towards their home. Even though their ears were being blasted with the roar of the engine, the silence still rung fresh in their ears.

When they arrived home, they climbed off the motorcycle and walked inside without even a glance at the other.

Maka returned to her room and immediately threw herself on her bed, face down. She was supposed to stay in bed again all-day tomorrow, except it was very obvious that Soul would not keep her company this time. The thought made her sigh, and she tried to push all of the sad feelings out with it. Unfortunately, they clung to her chest, stubborn, refusing to budge.

Therapy wasn't scheduled until Friday, three days 'till then. Maka figured that she should probably get started on her homework, but for once, she couldn't summon enough willpower. Not even enough to get up. So instead, she took a pillow and buried her face in it, tempted to scream and see if maybe then, those feelings that were stuck to her would just slip out. But she knew that, although he wouldn't say anything about it, it would register in Soul's mind that she was screaming. And, although she knew he kept a cool facade on, some part of him was hurt on the inside. She still felt terrible for hurting him.

Maka turned to her clock. _Only 7? Jeez, it feels like midnight. _Although most of her stamina was back, and she had slept the entire day, that fight had absolutely drained her, emotionally, mentally and somehow even physically. Maka decided that she should probably go to sleep now.

Just as she was pulling the covers up, though, a knock came at the door. Maka huffed irritated. She listened to see if Soul was going to answer it, but after moments of complete silence, she got up. _Well, I guess I'll get it, then. _Maka stomped over to the door, not knowing who it could be. _Actually, _she thought, _I did just get out of the hospital. I texted Tsubaki and Liz back and told them, so everyone in that group should know. And, come to think of it, Blair's shift gets off about now. Maybe it's even Dad, finally seeing his daughter for the first time in almost a week. _She thought about this. _Okay, well it could still be Tsubaki or Blair._

"Who is it?" she asked when she got to the door. The only reply was a second knock. She sighed, hoping it wasn't some pervert or girl scout. (Why she grouped those two groups together, she didn't know). Maka hesitated for a moment before slowly opening the door.

At first, Maka didn't recognize the figure before her. She only noticed that he was tall, fairly well built, with almost black hair and amber-yellow eyes. He wore black, but had a comforting smile on his pale face. Then, Maka began to put all of these details together, slowly dawning on her who this person was. Her eyes grew and she gasped.

"Maka It's been a while," he said in that familiar voice. That voice alway_s_ had this power to soothe her and make her forget all of her problems. The sound of it, and the sight of him, temporarily made Maka forget about her problems. She threw herself against him, tackling him into a hug.

"NEKO!"

He laughed, acknowledging the old nickname, and didn't budge when she hugged him, as she only reached his neck. He embraced her back, missing her. "You've grown. I think," he added. "You're still so short."

"Hey!" she shouted, although she was laughing at this. "I _did _grow. A lot."

He smiled back. "I know. Trust me, I can tell."

Maka gave him a final squeeze as she dropped her arms. "What are you doing here?"

He looked inside, motioning. Realizing what he was trying to imply, she said, "Oh! Come in!" She moved aside as he ducked a little bit upon entry. He walked over to the couch and sat down. Maka sat in the chair opposite him. She jumped right back up, though, hurriedly asking, "Would you like some tea? Or water?" She smiled slyly as she asked, "Milk?"

He chuckled. "No, Maka. Just sit, I'm fine. Really. You don't need to pretend like I'm some fancy guest."

She blushed, sitting back down. "Sorry. It's just that I haven't seen you in so long! What are you doing here?" she repeated.

"Actually, I came because I heard about your mom," he said respectfully. "I'm really sorry, Maka. How are you handling it?"

Maka's excited smile faded. Reality flooded back in. "Oh…" she trailed off.

He nodded, understanding. Ever since they were young, he could always read her like a book. He turned to see someone standing by the entranceway. A boy around maka's age with white hair and red eyes that peered at him, A little startled, he said, "Oh….hello."

Soul turned to Maka, who was still staring off at the floor. "Maka, who's this?"

Maka's head snapped up. "Huh?" she asked. "Oh," jumped up, returning back to normal. "Soul, I'd like you to meet Miko. Miko, this is Soul."

"Ah, yes! Soul! It's a pleasure to meet you! I've heard a lot about you. Well, not from Maka, but from….." he trailed off, not wanting to bring up her mom again. "Well, anyway, it's nice to finally meet you." He extended his hand.

Soul stared at the hand for a while, but did not move a muscle. He then glared at Miko, threateningly. Miko shifted uncomfortably, but still tried to keep the mood light. "So… tell me about yourself."

"Why don't you. You're the one who is in my house."

"Soul!" Maka hissed.

Miko put his hands up a little. "No, no, it's fine." He sat back down, and Maka did the same. Soul still continued to look at him, standing. "Well, I'm a childhood friend. My mother had worked with Maka's a few times, and we had spent time together while they were in meetings or off somewhere. We practically grew up together, I guess you can say. Although Maka was three years younger than me, I always told her stories of what it was like to be in school. Uh…" Soul's stare had intensified, but Maka didn't notice, apparently lost in her memories. "There isn't much more to it than that. So," he turned his attention towards Maka. "Tell me, what's been going on? What's it been, now? Three, four years?"

"Three and a half," Maka rushed out. Realizing her error, she blushed again, but covered her cheeks, trying to hide it. "Eh, sorry."

Miko just laughed. "You've still got a great memory, I see."

Maka smiled. "Well, let's see. I guess for starters, I enrolled at DWMA, and this is my partner," she motioned towards Soul, who now sat with his arms crossed. "But I guess you already knew that. Um…nothing that is really exciting, I don't think." She completely forgot about her mom, as she often forgot the bad things when surrounded by Miko's light atmosphere. "But what about you, Neko? I'm sure a lot must have happened to you. You're life seems so exciting!" She leaned in a bit, as she did when they were small and he was going to tell her a story.

Instead, Soul cut in with, "Neko?"

Miko nodded. "Yeah, well-"

"When I was little, I called him Neko 'cause I thought he looked like a cat, and…well, it sounded like Miko." She giggled, reminiscent of the better times. "I guess I never dropped the name. Anyway, talk to me!"

"Well, I just returned from Italy, Greece and Denmark with my partner. Do you remember Hanaku?"

"Oh, yeah! How's she?"

"She's great! Reminds me of you, a little, actually. No, she's great! So, we just came back from Europe. Let me tell you, Maka, when you hunt for Kishin, search in Greece. You will absolutely love it! It is beautiful! We defeated about twelve or so in Greece, around fifteen in Italy, only a few in Denmark, though."

"Wow! That's amazing! Soul and I actually went to Rome, too, and London. We went with Black Star and Tsubaki- you remember them, right? I was friends with Tsubaki before the DWMA, I'm pretty sure."

"Yeah, yeah, of course! And Black Star is her partner I'm assuming?"

"Trust me," she laughed. "Once you meet him, you won't forget him."

"Is he that remarkable?"

"Ehh…I guess you could say that. But I wanna hear more about-"

They heard the door slam! The two had been so focused in catching up that they hadn't noticed Soul get up and go, leaving a loud noise behind. Miko scratched the back of his neck. "Uh….is he okay?"

Aggravated that Soul had been so selfish and stubborn, Maka steamed, "Yeah. He's just…bad around new people, that's all. Don't worry," she said perking up a bit. "He'll warm up to you." She sighed to herself, though, hoping those words would be true.

**Alright, we're gonna take a short detour into this subplot! I hope you enjoy the ride, thanks for riding abroad MySoulYourSoul. We look forward to your next visit!**

**Wow, that was terrible. Just…..wow. I should probably erase this. Ehh, too lazy.**

**Anyways, LEAVE A COMMENT, YOU SELFISH ********* :O ii really wanna know what u guys think of this!**


	11. Contact

**~first, i'd like to announce that my story has had over 1,ooo visitors o.0 XDDD **

**idk if that's a lot for other stories, but for me, that's amazing**

**~ next, I'm really sorry this is taking so long, I've been really really busy…watching anime XDD sorry! (don't you hate when two people are 100% right for each other in an anime and never get together? :(( urggg) anyways, sorry, im venting. **

**enjoy! [comment!]**

Chapter 11- Contact

Maka cleaned up the living room, tidying it so that everything looked back to the way it was before earlier events. She tried hard to focus on making sure everything had been meticulously put back in place, avoiding the thoughts that kept on rising up. _Where the hell did he go? Why does he have to be such a dick? _Maka sighed, frustrated, and pushed away those thoughts.

After everything had been cleaned up, the room now even tidier than before, Maka stood for a moment, looking over the area. _What do I do now?_ She supposed it would be best to do the homework that was due tomorrow. Yawning, she walked into her room and paused at the doorway. For once in her life, she would rather not do her homework. Maka saw the unopened volume of the manga she was reading. She then peeked at the clock, which read 5:13. _I guess I've got time, _she thought. _I really need a happy ending right now, anyways. _

She retrieved the book and walked back into the living room. It seemed like a nice idea to just sit, book in one hand, tea in the other, covered in blankets. It was a warm, comfortable feeling, and Maka anticipated it.

As Maka walked into the kitchen to make the tea, she heard something. _Did somebody break in? _she thought. But as she realized that the sound was someone looking through the fridge, she rolled her eyes. _What was I thinking? Only one person can slip past me that quietly in a matter of seconds._

"What are you doing?" she asked Soul.

He turned, large sums of food in his arms, and said, "I'm hungry."

Maka put her hand to her forehead in annoyance. "What was that all about? And put the food back, I'm gonna make dinner soon anyway."

Soul hesitantly began to place each article of food back. "I went out."

"Are we seriously going to do this?"

"What are you talking about?"

"First of all, put the cheese back, I saw that. And you know what I'm talking about. Why'd you just storm out?"

He kept staring into the fridge, silently, finishing putting back the food.

Maka sighed. "You don't have to be jealous of-"

"Jealous?" He snorted. "Yeah, right."

She furrowed her brows. "Well, then, what's the big deal?"

"I just don't like having to sit there while some arrogant jerk goes off about how fantastic he is, that's all." He restrained himself from slamming the refrigerator door and stood up.

Offended, Maka retorted, "He's not arrogant and he's not a jerk! I wouldn't be talking if I were you, Soul! You kinda take the cake on that one!"

He glared at her. She knew as soon as she had said it that she shouldn't have, but her anger was consuming her. "And you are jealous."

"Well," he said, still glaring at her. "Then why don't you be his partner?"

"God, you're ridiculous! He's not even a weapon! And don't pull that crap every time I get mad at you."

"It seems like you don't really want to be here anyway, though. If I'm such an arrogant, jealous jerk, why don't you find another weapon?"

Maka didn't say anything. They both stared each other down. Finally, Maka looked away. She sat down on the floor against the cabinet. "Why? Do you want me to?"

Soul didn't expect this response. "What?"

All of a sudden, Maka felt overwhelmed. She breathed a little heavier. "It seems your reaching your boiling point with me."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about everything that's going on. You always say I'm a nag and annoying in the first place. Then I have to make you deal with…my mom." She had to force those words out. "I knew you'd end up mad at me in the end." Although she said this, she kept her voice strong, refusing to let it crack.

Soul was really confused. "Well…. that's….that's not the point," he said. He didn't even know what he was saying. "That's….different. I'm not mad at you because of _that_-"

"Soul, don't pretend."

He was taken aback by this. Now, he was getting frustrated. "I'm not pretending! And don't try to turn this on me! Don't try to make me feel bad, now!"

Maka was quiet. "Sorry," she mumbled. There was no response. She could only think of one thing to break this silence. "Neko isn't really all that bad."

He just looked over at her. He was sitting on the floor now, next to her, but not close to her. About a foot and a half still separated them.

"When we were little, my dad and I used to stay with his family. Our parents had all grown up together, actually, so they were all like a big family. It wasn't a big deal when we came over, we weren't like guests or anything. Neko was my best friend growing up. I looked up to him like he was my big brother. At first, of course, I liked him, but he became more like a brother than anything else. We both shared the same dream to be like our moms. He had attended DWMA, but graduated a year early with his partner, Hanaku. I never saw him much after that. Infact, I only ever saw him again once, for my birthday."

She turned to Soul, who was focused on a tile. "Soul, he's married."

Shocked, Soul finally met her eyes. Maka laughed at his reaction. "Hanaku and Neko have been married for a year. When they were sixteen. He told me on my birthday a year ago. You were out somewhere and he stopped by the house." She saw his still surprised expression. "What's the big deal?"

Soul shook his head. "Nothing. They're just so young. And…." he trailed off.

"What?"

"Never mind."

"You thought I still liked him?"

He was back to studying the same tile. "It's just that…..I don't know, I guess you seemed so happy all of a sudden that you forgot all of your problems. So…"

She looked at the tile, too. "That's just how Neko is. He's got that atmosphere. But….in truth, after a while of being with him, my problems came back to me. And the fact that he was a reminder of the happier times in life didn't really help." She swallowed. "Even though she worked a lot, my mom saw me more frequently when I was little. And she would bring me and Neko things from where she came from. Of course, mine were always better because I was her daughter, but we were both included. Sometimes, if Shinigami-sama needed my dad for a mission and he wasn't with us, my mom would take me and Neko out for smoothies." She whispered a laugh, but the tiny smile that tried to push through her lips faded. "Seeing Neko made me remember that nothing is the same anymore."

Maka saw something drop. When she looked down at her skirt, she saw one spot that was darker than the rest. _Huh, _she thought, _A tear. At least I'm not all out crying. _Only one tear was allowed past her eyes. She immediately silenced any sobs that dared to try and escape.

She then felt something brush past her fingers. She looked over and Soul had moved closer. He laid his hand on top of hers, but still looked at the tile. Maka froze. She didn't know how she was supposed to react. All she knew was that her heart was really getting messed up and the temperature defiantly had risen. He looked at her, and she realized she had been staring at him. Cheeks stinging, she looked back down. It was getting uncomfortably hot.

"Y-You never did put the cheese back," she stumbled.

Soul laughed. "Fine, have it your way." He stood back up, breaking the contact they had, and put the cheese back in the fridge. "What's for dinner?"

She sighed. "I'm too tired to cook. I'll just order in."

He nodded and headed back into his room.

Maka still stood in the kitchen after making the phone call to the restaurant. She raised her hand to her face, studying it. Everything looked the same- every line that stretched through it, every crease that was imprinted on it, every fingernail still the same length. Nothing looked different.

But everything felt different.

**:3333 ahaha 3333 little moment there LEAVE A COMMENT! **

**thanks again for all of the comments and subscriptions. I am sooooo thankful!**


	12. Once Upon a Time and the Easy Rest

**~COOOOOMMEENT!**

**~ohmygod, i reread all of my chapters, and whenever i tried to make that little heart thing in text message form it never works, it just shows threes. wtffff? like, okay, watch this; 3333 i swear to god, there's a less than sign before the threes! -_- anyways, i reread all of my chapters, and they really suck in some parts XDD and my type-thinggy changed some of my words that i "misspelled". ? **

**~anyways, i started writing this and couldn't stop. i had a good idea and didn't want to lose it, and I ended up smutting together two short chapters to make a really long one 0.o**

**~disclaimer; …..**

**~COMMENT!**

Chapter 12 & 12.5- Once Upon a Time and the Easy Rest

Part 1; Once Upon a Time

Maka sat on the couch and held her manga in her hands. She had trailed off at some part, though, still distracted by her hand. She didn't know why it intrigued her so much- after all, Soul was just trying to make a sympathetic gesture. But still….

"What are you looking at?"

Maka had a small spasm that spread through her body a the sound of Soul's voice. She turned to face him. He was standing behind the couch, leaning a little bit to bring his face close to hers. She refused the blush that wanted to creep up on her face and turned back to her book. "Nothing. Just reading this."

Soul leaned in a little bit more to get a better view. "Oh, God, I know this. Isn't this the one with the girl who's poor and the guy who's a prince? Ugh, this is advertised everywhere."

Maka shrugged her shoulders, a bit offended. "It's not as bad as you're making it sound."

"Yeah?"

Taking it personally, Maka said, "Yeah! He's not just some prince. He looks dark and mysterious on the outside, but he's really nice on the inside. He's just harsh so that he can rule the kingdom, because if he wasn't, the he'd get attacked. But one day, he sneaks out and finds this girl, and she sees him as he really is. And….well…." Soul was staring at her. "Yeah, I'm probably not making it sound much better….."

He laughed. "No, not really." He sat down on the couch and turned on the t.v. "When's the food getting here?"

"Shouldn't be more than ten minutes."

"Good, I'm starving."

Maka returned to her book and Soul to his show. A few minutes passed by, not a word being spoken. Soul thought about what Maka had said. Impulsively, he asked, "How does it end?"

Maka had been really into her story and barely heard him speak. She looked up. "What?"

He considered saying, Never mind, but he wanted to know. He kept his eyes on the t.v screen and casually asked, "How does it end," as if he were making small talk.

"Oh," she replied. "I don't know yet. But he just got informed that she is very sick. She is literally dying of hunger and disease, and it's killing him inside, but he has to pretend not to care, or else everyone will become suspicious. Oh, man," she whispered to herself, nibbling at her fingertips.

"What do you think?" Soul didn't know why he was asking this. "I mean, that he should do?"

Completely forgetting the fact that this was out of his character, Maka huffed, "Well, I think he should be a man already! She hasn't _said _she loves him, but you can tell she does. And he does too, he just won't admit it to himself. And she needs him now, of all times, and he's afraid that everyone will get mad that he's in love with a commoner? So what?" Now, she was talking more to the character than to Soul. "The woman you love is in pain, and you're not gonna do anything about it? God, at least tell her you love her! She would be happy just to know that you do, even if you won't do anything else!"

"Well," said Soul, stepping into her fangirl moment. "She should at least understand the circumstances. She knew that he could never tell her he loved her without there being drawbacks. It would be bad for her, too. People might-"

"Soul, who cares what 'people' think? We're talking about love here! Sure, people might try to do whatever they like, but if two people belong together, then other 'people' or other things shouldn't matter."

"But," Soul was seriously getting into this. "He might not even know if she really loves him. I mean, you said it yourself, _she _never told him she loved him."

"Well, think about it this way," Maka said, determined to have the final word. "If you were him, don't you think it would be nice to just have someone to open up to? And she isn't sure that he loves her back, so she doesn't want to put him in that position. What if he didn't, and he didn't want to see her again after that because he thought she was just trying to get close to him because he was the prince? Or what if he did, but then the fact that she loves him would only be a reminder of how they can't be together?"

"But I thought you just said that it didn't matter if anyone else wanted them together?"

"Yeah, but that's something the prince has to decide. Because if he can't see that, and only she can, then nothing changes except for the fact that he might feel betrayed!"

"But what if it's worth the risk?" he asks, definitly set on this.

She paused. Maka didn't know what to say. "Well…. maybe _he _should decide if it's worth the risk….."

"Why him?"

"Well, why her?"

"Well, somebody has to confess, or else they'll just keep standing in the same place forever."

Maka thought about this. "Yeah….."

The quietness was disrupted by a loud knocking at the door. "Delivery!"

Maka opened the door and took the food, while Soul still pondered over the debate. _Why did I even start fighting about this? It's ridiculous. And it's so girly anyways. A prince? Come on. _He sniffed the air. _Mmm, Japanese._

Maka set the food down on the table in front of the t.v. "Well, I guess you'd have to read it to understand his point of view."

Soul shook his head. "No. I understand."

Handing him his own box of noodles and chopsticks, she asked, "Really? Well what do you think should happen, then?"

Soul opened the box, letting out a lot of steam. "Don't know." He was done with the issue.

Stubborn, Maka said, "Seriously. I'm curious." She placed her own chopsticks in her hands.

Soul swallowed the large chunk of noodles and sighed. "Seriously. I don't know." He really didn't know what he should do….

Part 2; The Easy Rest

It was Wednesday. Technically. Maka wearily glance over at the clock, which read 12:09.

_Shit._

She had finished her homework and was exhausted, but for some reason, she just could not go to sleep. She had this weird feeling in her- like something inside of her was trying to tell her something, but her mind couldn't connect to it. She pulled the covers back over her head and shut her eyes. _Why can't I sleep?_

It seemed like hours had passed before she looked back at her clock, frustrated. 12:41. Maka threw her blanket off of her and slipped her feet into her soft slippers. She shivered, as the heater wasn't working well lately and she was only wearing sweatshirts and an oversized t-shirt. Snatching a blanket and wrapping it around herself, she shuffled quietly into the kitchen. She had no idea what she was doing in there, but she knew that nothing would get accomplished just by laying in her bed. Maka ended up in the living room, and decided to watch t.v. until her fatigue overcame her. She made sure to turn the volume down low so that she wouldn't wake up Soul. Maka suddenly remembered that Blair still wasn't home, and was thankful- she could hear everything with her ears.

Maka flipped through the channels uselessly, finally resting on some game show. It was something about a singing contest, where the contestants competed for the top spot, or whatever. Maka was half listening, half spacing out when one of the contestants, a girl only a bit older than Maka, sung her favorite song. Maka recognized the sweet melody immediately, its nostalgia sweeping through her. Though, nostalgic as it was, she couldn't remember where she had first heard it. She did, though, remember every word to it.

When the song began, Maka hummed along to it. The melody had a melancholy tone to it, but it was very beautiful, and every note that was fit together connected perfectly. Maka had sung the song so many times in her life that she hit every pitch perfectly. She recognized when the girl who sang on television messed up, and scolded her in her head. But, mostly, she just got lost in the song. Snuggled in her blanket, she closed her eyes and let the melody sink into her heart, continuing to hum with it.

"Not bad."

Maka gasped at the unexpected voice. Soul was standing by the couch, looking at her with a smirk on his face. Her first instinct was to ask why he'd ben listening to her, but then she noticed the deep circles etched under his eyes. The realization that he hadn't had a peaceful sleep in days hit her. "Oh, sorry, did I wake you up?"

He walked over to the couch. "Nah, I was already awake." He plopped down next to her.

"Soul," she said, a little concerned. "You haven't really slept in days."

"I'm fine, Maka," he scoffed. "Now, what are we watching?"

She turned back to the t.v., still worried. "I don't know what it's called. Just some singing show."

She felt him staring at her. She met his gaze. "What?"

"You're not that bad of a singer, you know."

She laughed. "Soul, you don't have to keep this up. I'm going back to school tomorrow, and I'm going to a therapist on Friday. You don't have to keep being nice to me."

Now he laughed. "I'm serious. Geez, take the compliment."

A blush suddenly crept up on her cheeks. "Oh…um, well… thanks."

"Don't mention it."

She focused on him again. "So why are you up so late? You can't not be tired."

He shrugged. "I'm just not."

She wanted to persist, but her fatigue was beginning to weigh on her. Her eyelids lowered themselves partially over her big eyes. Only half-conscious, she leaned against Soul's chest, blanket still wrapped around her. She didn't really recognize the implications of her actions- all she knew was that he was warm and comfy. It was in his warmth that she was finally able to melt away into sleep.

The last thing that crossed her mind was that the tugging, unresting feeling in her heart was soothed away.

Soul looked down at Maka. She had fallen asleep in a matter of seconds, and on him at that. Her snores were only whispered and her heavy breathing was muffled in his shirt. He sighed, relieved. Now, he could sleep- now that she was finally at peace and resting easy.

Except she fell asleep on him.

He wasn't going to wake her up, now that she finally fell asleep. He figured the only thing he could do now was to sleep as he was. His head felt awkward just facing the walls, though, and his body was backed up too close to the couch to rest against it. The only other option was unconscious by his side. So he hesitantly rested his head atop of Maka's, careful not to wake her up, and found her unkept hair surprisingly comfortable. He let his eyes shut and fell asleep, for the first time in nights, peaceful.

Blair stumbled home, giddy, trying to come into the house quietly. Maka was supposed to be home tonight, and she didn't want to wake up Maka when she's not well. It was scary. She placed the key in the hole and carefully let herself in.

She opened the door to the living room. The faint glow of the still turned on t.v. illuminated the scene of Maka sleeping on Soul, who had his head sitting on top of hers, also sleeping. Blair purred, "Well, finally." She turned off the t.v. and took one last look at the two, a sly grin on her face, before leaving the room.

**Ohkay, so thats my really weird chapter 12. Next chapter gets back on topic! Promise! These seemed almost like one shots….**

** and i give u cookie. chocolate chip. mmmm :3 or sprinkles, if ur like that ;D**

**but seriously, comment XL**


	13. Extra: The Story

**hey, so, im having a serious writers lock on how to continue this story. i have an idea of how i want it to proceed, but i have yet to make a decent plan of action. in the meantime, tho, i wrote this so u wont be completely bored, i hope. idk, i thought it was cute, so, yeah.**

_"One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter." ~James Earl Jones_

Extra- Kingdom of Souls

The prince held his breath as he peeked around the corner, back pressed against the wall, white hair partially blocking his vision. If he could make it past the gate, which, for once, was unguarded, then he would be free! He scanned the entire area, seeing nobody pass through. He preceded to close his eyes and listen carefully to every sound. Birds chirping, yes. Leaves rustling in the gentle breeze, yes. Footsteps or voices, none in a close proximity, at least. Trusting his instinct, he sprinted across the walkway, closing in on the gate. _C'mon! Almost!_

He burst through the gates, free at last. Amazed at his wonderful fortune, he stood still for a moment and just grinned.

"HEY! HE'S OVER THERE!"

"Aw, I don't think so!" he smirked and ran into the bushes. He had waited long enough to break free from castle grounds, and he was not about to lose his one opportunity to explore a new world. He had even dressed the part, neglecting his wardrobe full of royal clothing and demanding clothes from that of a servant, Kid.

"B-But, your highness-"

"Firstly, Kid," he interrupted, booming over him. "I thought I spoke to you about how you should address me. And I do not want to hear any retorts from you. This is a command, not a request."

Kid swallowed. "Uhm…..a-as you wish, sire." He ran off to fetch the necessary artifacts.

_Why must he address me so formally? _The prince thought. He sighed and waited for Kid to bring back what he asked for.

When he returned, he held in his hands his best and cleanest shirt and pair of….some form of pants, along with things that appeared to be filthy dress shoes.

"Dear God," the prince said, holding up the shoes and pants. "What _are _these?"

"Uh, well, those are jeans," he indicated towards the pants, "and those are sneakers."

"Jeans? Sneakers?"

"It is the wear of the commoners, your majesty."

"I see," replied the prince, dropping the clothes on his beautiful- he couldn't even call it a bed. "Well, then, I'd say it's a good thing you are my height. You are dismissed now, Kid."

Kid left the room, letting out a breath as he walked into the outside light. _Honestly, _he thought, a bit annoyed, as he always was when he walked away from the prince-who-knew-nothing. _That might be the nicest thing he ever said to me._

The prince was still traveling through the woods, his breath coming out in short puffs. He'd been running for what must have been a half an hour. After concluding that the guards had retreated back, he slowed his pace. It was a beautiful day, and the sun shot through the opening through the trees. The prince may have looked like a lost traveler, but in reality, he knew exactly where he was going. As prince, he had been trained to know the kingdom and the town in which the castle resided inside and out. If he continued to travel parallel to the castle's wall, as he was doing, then he would wind up on the outskirts of the town of Death City. He had only ben in it a few times, but always inside of his carriage, and only to travel to different kingdoms. Although he didn't know the shops or the people, he knew exactly how the town was planned out.

It only took the prince a few more minutes before the trees in the woods thinned out, spilling in more sunlight. A clearing opened up, and from here on out, he was to travel with the gate wall to his back, and in a few minutes, he would reach the town. This was rather exciting for him. Adrenaline was coursing through his blood, and with every beat of his heart, it intensified.

He came into the town, and was very nervous. So far, no one seemed to notice him, as it was ridiculous to think a prince of such rank would ever wear clothes of a commoner. Of course no one would notice him! It was really very silly of him to even think so.

He continued walking as everyone else did. Many people stopped to go inside of stores and some had children walking alongside of them on the pavement. A large fountain emerged from town square, and many people gathered around to toss in pennies and listen to the poor play for money. _How stupid, _the prince thought. He was shocked when he recognized his own words. "Stupid" was not something you'd typically find in the vocabulary of a prince. Maybe he didn't have to think hard about sounding proper anymore.

_What a relief, _he thought. Even in his mind, he always had to speak with etiquette, so he wouldn't slip accidentally in front of other nobles.

The prince looked once again at the fountain, but looked not at the crystal water that sprinkled from it. He was struck for a moment at the person who sat on the fountain's edge. A woman? No, a girl. A young woman, he settled on, no younger than he, who was at the age of fifteen, as it stood. She wore the same material pants as he did- _jeans?- _and a grey blouse. Her blondish brown hair flowed in pigtails down over her shoulders and a burgundy bandana stretched over her forehead. She had the most intriguing emerald eyes, and they focused on the instrument that sat on her lap. He had studied this instrument, actually- a guitar. He had not fancied it much, though, taking a much keener interest to the piano. The melody she played was very beautiful, and her mouth began to move as she harmonized with the music. It was very fascinating- he had never heard this style of music before. The prince observed as passerby's happily dropped spare change into a guitar case, which had been laid open and rested at her feet.

The prince found himself entranced, and walked over to this girl as she continued, oblivious to his presence. More people dropped money in the case, and the prince, trying not to stand out, looked through the money he had taken with him. Unfortunately, he'd only taken large bills and no coins.

"Excuse me?"

The prince looked up. He hadn't even realized that she had stopped playing. But she smiled at him. "Do you need something?" Sweet voice.

"Oh," the prince began. "N-no, it's just…..where did you learn that song?"

"It's been in my family for a couple generations. Why?"

"It's….it's very wonderful. It was very…." he searched for the right word. "Elegant."

She laughed. "Elegant? Wow….well, thank you."

He stood looking at the instrument for another second before remembering why he'd come over in the first place. He withdrew a 20 dollar bill, the first thing that came out, and said, "For your services."

She gazed, wide eyed, at the paper. "Oh, God, no! No, that's an awful lot of money."

He stood, confused. "It is?"

She was packing up now, carefully placing her guitar in the case after collecting her earnings and stowing it in a change purse. "Trust me, I'm fine. I don't do this for money, anyways. I'm one of the few unaffected by the taxes."

_Taxes? _Oh, right, the prince remembered now. In order to pay for the high cost of the war against the star clan and their leader, Prince Black-Star, he had to tax the commoners more money. Apparently, this wasn't very popular with them.

"And why is that?" He wanted to know.

"My mother is a famous explorer," she answered. "She makes a lot of money, so I don't have to worry that much. Well…..I'm not the richest one in the town, either, but still. I get by." She was walking now, to her house, assumed the prince. He walked alongside her. "What about you? You seem to have some money. Is your mom famous too or something?"

The prince darkened just a little. "No. My parents were taken by the star- ah, I mean…..they're no longer with us…."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that," she responded with kindness thick in her voice.

"It's fine. I just stay with my brother, now."

"What does he do?"

The prince began to panic a little. "Uh….uh…he's a, uh….." An image of Wes's violin popped into his head. "A musician."

"Oh, cool! What does he play?"

"Violin. Yeah, he's pretty good at it."

"And what about you? You play anything?"

He looked down at his feet. "Well…..not really."

"Not really or no? Do you?"

She was quite attentative. "I used to be interested in piano, but…"

She looked at him. "I bet you'd be great at it."

He looked up. "What?"

She shrugged. "You just seem like the type of person, that's all. Which reminds me- who are you?"

"Evan-" WAIT! "Um….Soul Evans." Not. It was Prince Evan Souls, but he was known to the commoners solely as Prince Evan. Nobody really knew his last name.

"Soul? Like the Kingdom of Souls?" She asked, interested.

"Y-Yeah, my parents named me after it." Wrong again. They had named the _kingdom _after _him. _"And you?"

She stopped walking and stretched out a hand to him. "I'm Maka Albarn." She tilted her head to the side, causing her pigtails to shift, and smiled.

_Maka_

"Nice to meet you, Maka." He shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you, too, Soul."

Soul. Had a nice ring to it. He decided he liked it.

"So, Maka, where are you headed now?"

"I don't really know. I might just wander around a bit. Would you like to join me?"

Taken aback, Soul said, "Me?"

"Yeah you! You wanna or not?"

He stumbled, "W-Well, okay. But aren't you taking your guitar home first?"

She shrugged. "Nah. It comes with me anywhere I go!"

Such a free spirit, he thought. How nice it must be to be so free all of the time.

"Find him! I don't care if you have to tear the town apart, find him!"

_Oh, no._

Soul whipped around to find a mass of guards emerging from the castle gates, starting up quite a commotion. They kept on coming out, seeming incessant. He felt sweat forming on his neck, and a bad feeling growing in his chest.

"What's that all a-" But before Maka could finish her sentence, Soul took her by the arm and ran off into a nearby alleyway that was secluded from the large groups of people, in which the guards were searching.

"Soul! Soul, what-" He clamped a hand over her mouth as they rounded the corner into safety in the shadows. This did not calm her down, though, and only caused her to struggle. Once Soul was sure that no one would see them, he sighed.

"OW!" yelped Soul when Maka bit his hand. "For Christ's sake, relax! I'm not abducting you or anything!"

"WHAT THE HELL WAS-"

Soul desperately tried to shush her without restraining her again. "SHHHHHHHHH!" he whisper-screamed.

She calmed down only enough to keep her from going off on him. "What is going on?" she whispered.

"Don't freak out or anything when I tell you."

"Oh, God! Just tell me!"

He sighed. "I haven't properly introduced myself." He stretched out a hand. "I'm Evan Souls."

At first, she just looked extremely confused. But then it slowly dawned on her. "_Prince _Evans?" He nodded. She slumped to the floor, back against the wall, laying her guitar down. She put her head in her hands. "Great."

Soul didn't expect this response. "Huh?"

"Of all people to run into, it had to be a prince who ran away."

Now, he was downright offended. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Now _I'm _involved in the case of the runaway prince. They'll thing I kidnapped you or something. What if I get sent to jail? What if-"

"Can you just shut up for a second?" Soul even surprised himself by saying this. She looked up at him, shocked, but silent. "They won't think you kidnapped me. I've been trying to escape that place for a while."

She just stared at him for a second. "Escape? Why on Earth would you want to escape? Your a prince for christ sake!"

He scowled. "It's not all it's cracked up to be. Having absolutely no life. No freedom. Never getting to put yourself first. Making your people hate you and fear you so they won't bring you down."

"Trust me," she said. "If it was any girl from my school in my place, she'd be drooling all over you."

He laughed. "Yeah, exactly. 'Cause I'm a prince. I never get to be seen as an actual person. Just a figure." She looked at him when he said this, staring at his averted eyes, which had been looking at a particular brick on the wall.

Maka slumped back down. In a very soft voice, she mumbled, "_Is it better to be feared or loved?" _

Just barely catching this, Soul turned to her, now sitting down next to her. "What?"

"It's a famous question. As royalty, is it better to be feared by your people so they will not bring you down or loved so that you may not have to feel the burns of hatred." She shook her head. "Is there not a middle ground?"

Soul paused. He took in what she was saying and thought about it. _Was _there a middle ground? "Well, all I know is what I've been brought up to be as a ruler. Although, it certainly would seem nice to not be detested by my people."

Maka gazed at him. Then, as if deciding something, she said, "I don't think your somebody people should hate, Soul."

Shocked, he looked at her with wide eyes. "But I thought you hated me? You said so at the fountain!"

She looked into his sapphire eyes, and smiled. "Yeah, but now I understand you better. You are a good person who hides behind bad actions to protect himself." She placed her hand atop of his, still smiling. "I have faith in you, Soul."

"Why do you still insist on calling me Soul?"

She actually thought about this for a moment. "Because," she responded, "I don't see you as Prince Evans. I see you as the person you're trying to be." She stared into his eyes. "I don't think your a bad person. You've just done some bad things, that's all. Your misunderstood. And even afraid. It's okay, though. Just because your some prince doesn't make you inhuman. Everyone has those fears!" She beamed at him reassuringly.

Soul didn't know what words could possibly compensate for her comfort. So he settled on, "T-Thank you."

She nodded. "So. What are you going to do now? You can't just run away."

And in his head, he thought that's not what he wanted to do at all. What he really wanted now was to take those words she said to him and make them true. He wanted to rule his kingdom differently.

He wanted to be loved rather than feared, at least sometimes. Because, when he was feared, there was just this big emptiness inside of him. This feeling of not being whole. And, sometimes, it was terrible, feeling like he was missing this big part of him.

Soul stood up and looked at Maka, who was gazing up at him from the ground. "I'm going to start doing things differently," he stated, determination consuming him. He offered his hand to her, and she looked at it for a second. Then, a smile spread across her face as she gently laid her hand in his. "But don't worry," he said as he helped her up. "This won't be the last time we meet. I promise."

_And this was just the beginning of a long, romantic story. Soul had kept his word, often sneaking out of the castle to visit Maka and to travel around the town. In time, Wes, his supervisor and brother, granted him permission o roam around Death City, as long as he were in disguise. He accepted this request completely, as h did not even want to be Prince Evans sometimes. _

_Maka exposed him to a new life, one that he had never experienced before- one tat he could not help but to smile at. She opened him up to music, foods, clothing and many other things, expanding his view on the world. In turn, he ran the kingdom in a better way as much as he possibly could. Unfortunately, though, the changes that he could make were very small, as Wes controlled the kingdom mostly. Many of his kinder actions went unnoticed by the commoners, but all the same, occasionally, he would help a person who needed it most, and his dark heart would get a bit brighter._

_The time of war was drawing nearer, he could sense. The mighty Prince Black-Star was advancing onward towards the Kingdom of Souls, conquering everything in his path. But Soul was determined to protect his people as best as he could, whiter they noticed it or not._

_And all the while, Soul began to fall deeper and deeper in love with Maka. Although, he knew that serious problems would arise if he confessed his love for her. Not only would there be a massive disapproval throughout the kingdom, but she would end up being targeted by the Star Kingdom for being so close to him. Not to mention the fact that he was affrays she would not reciprocate his feelings for her. He was, after all, still afraid of things on the inside._

_But one day, he knew, everything would work out._

**Alright, this was kind of pointless. Thiis could have been an entire fanfic all on its own, but i don't have that kind of time. enjoy this while i rack my brain for possibilities on the next chapter! [sorry!]**

**Please, still comment though!**


	14. Normal

**~hi everyone! thanks for the great advice and reviews! sorry for that last chapter, i had no idea how to start this one. i kept pulling up my openoffice and i would just stare at it like o.o fuuuuuuuuhh don't know what to put. DEMO [hooray, im japanese] im determined to write this chapter to the best of my ability! i don't know if there it a limitation to the amount of chapters you can put in a story, but im expecting this to be over 20 o.0 i thought originally, it'd be, like 10, but now im like, theres no way i can finish this in less than 20!**

**~so, thank u every one who stuck by my side and read my story all the way through [u may have a cookie], and ESPECIALLY the ones that have commented on my chapters! [you may have your choice of a jar of cookies or Soul's ice cream in ch.6 X)] u know by now how happy and excited i get whenever i see a good comment! it literally makes my day :)))**

**~so, here's my next chapterrrrr**

**~oh, and i heard this joke from my guitar teacher, and i just wanna share it with y'all; teacher's friend: you can tune a guitar, but you cant tunafish! teacher; sure you can! u just need to ADJUST THE SCALES!**

**HA! your welcome ;D**

**okay, im sorry, anyway, heres the next chapter!**

Chapter 13- Normal

Maka struggled to open her eyes, her eyelids luring her to close them again. She was leaning on something warm, something that she couldn't identify. She slowly moved her eyes to the nearest window. It was still dark outside. Good, she could still sleep. She made a loud yawn, causing the object she was resting on to shift. Startled, Maka looked up (as best as she could- something was on her head) to see that the thing she was leaning on was Soul. He had a very peaceful look on his face and was still sleeping. _When did that happen?_

She would've done something, but her exhaustion was consuming her. So, Maka let her eyes close and allowed herself to drift back to sleep.

Soul woke up to the harsh sunlight streaming directly into his eyes, forcing them to squint. _Why am I in the living room? (_He had adjusted the bed in his room so that the sun wouldn't wake him up.)

As if in reply, he felt Maka's slow breathing on his chest. He lifted his head off of hers and saw her face. It was completely calm, and even a bit…..happy? She was nestled into him very comfortably, so it made it hard for Soul to shift in any way. He was, though, able to peer around the room and look at the clock. 7:13. _Oh shit! _Class started at 8 sharp (much to Kid's delight when he found out, though he was the only one happy about it). He gently lifted Maka off of him while he quickly got up off of the couch. He leaned her back down and ran into the kitchen, preparing toast and fruit for the two of them.

After getting breakfast laid out, he ransack to the couch to wake Maka up. He stopped himself right as he was about to call her name, staring at her face. She looked so serene. Better than he had sen her lately. Shaking his head, he told himself, _No! I gotta wake her up or else she'll be pissed. _"Oi, Maka," he said, nudging her.

She slowly opened her eyes. "Huh? What?"

"We overslept."

Those words always woke her up immediately. She jumped up from the couch, rushing into her room, fretting all the way. "Oh, man, oh man! And it's my first day bcd, too! And if you're late again, Stein'll kill you!"

Soul, however, was ready in a matter of ten minutes. It was Maka who was going to make them late. Her damn outfit and pigtails took so long for her to do right. Soul began eating breakfast without Maka at the table, shoving down toast and bananas as fast as he could.

To Soul's surprise, Maka finished about 15 minutes earlier than usual. Except this time, her attire consisted of jeans and a white tshirt with a black jacket, and her straight blonde hair was down. "C'mon, let's go!" she said, grabbing Soul's hand and rushing out the door, neglecting her breakfast.

In a matter of minutes, they were on his motorcycle and driving to DWMA. 7:49. Maka had her hair in the helmet. Which reminded Soul, "Where's your usual outfit? And pigtails?"

"No time to do my hair. I accidentally left the outfit at the dry cleaners. Ugh, this sucks. On top of it all, we're gonna be late!"

He laughed. "Don't be so sure." He then pushed his hand a little farther downwards, causing the bike to jet forward. Maka squealed a little bit and grabbed his stomach tighter.

"Soul!"

"Relax! It's fine. We'll make it on time, too," he said as the DWMA came into view. 7:56.

Thrusting off their helmets and parking, the two ran as fast as they could into the classroom. Everyone was seated. Maka checked her watch. 8:00.

"Ah, Miss Albarn. Welcome back! We're just about start, so take your seats." Stein smiled in a way that said, One more minute, Eater, and your ass would've been sent right out of here.

Maka nodded. Everybody turned to look at them at the sound of Maka's name. Among them was Tsubaki, Liz, Patty, Black Star, and Kid. Everyone was smiling at them- Tsubaki and Liz in relief and pleasantness, Black Star with a cocky grin, Patty in obliviousness- except Kid. He had a horrified look on his face as he stared at Maka. Maka was confused by this, but went to take her seat next to Tsubaki.

"How are you feeling, Maka?"

Maka was relieved to know that, this time, she didn't have to fake her reply. "Better!"

Tsubaki beamed. "Great! Then how about Friday, we all do something to celebrate?"

Maka would have gladly agreed, except for one thing. "Oh, hum….I can't on Friday."

"Why?"

She bit her lip, unsure if this was something she wanted to be public. The total embarrassment of it made her cheeks turn just a hue redder. "I…hum….have…"

Impulsively (and hopeful), Tsubaki asked, "Have a date with Soul?"

Maka was bewildered by this. "WHAT? Why would-"

"Is there something you would like to share with the class, Maka?" Stein asked.

Maka froze, cheeks now completely ruby-red. "Oh, no! I'm, uh, sorry!"

Profesor Stein smirked and said, "Well, then, let's begin class." He wrote something down on the board, but Maka was busy writing something else down in her notebook. When she finished, she thrust it towards Tsubaki. _WHY would you ask that?_

Tsubaki smiled sheepishly as she took the paper and carefully scribbled something back. Maka impatiently huffed as she waited for her paper to be returned. When Tsubaki finished, she gently slid it back to Maka. _I don't know. I guess because when I asked, you got nervous and blushed, and then you wore your hair and clothes different today, and you came into class holding hands with Soul…_

Maka's cheeks furiously burned. She didn't remember the last part! She thought back to when the two arrived here. He was taking a while getting everything together, and Maka had….oh, right- taken his hand and sped off, trying not to be late. _I guess I never let go. _So those smiles she got and stares from the class weren't just because she was back from the hospital. But then…..why was Kid so mad? Maka shrugged, thinking that he must have forgotten to make his bed or something.

Maka remembered that Tsubaki was waiting for a response. She hastily wrote, _No, of course I'm not going out with Soul! My outfit's still at the dry cleaners and I was going to be late to school, so I didn't have time to do my hair. And Soul was taking a long time in the parking lot, so I kind of pulled him here._

Tsubaki looked at the paper with disappointment. Noticing this, Maka wondered what that was all about. Then, Tsubaki wrote something else. _Fine, sorry. But then why were you so nervous when I asked about Friday?_

Maka sighed. She took the paper and wrote back, _I have to go to therapy. I have post-traumatic stress disorder, so I need to go to therapy once a week. _She added a little unhappy face at the end to express her annoyance.

Tsubaki obviously did not expect this answer. _Oh! Well, I'm sorry Maka. I didn't know it was this severe, _she wrote back.

Everyone in class was talking quietly to each other, and she was getting hand cramps, so Maka whispered, "It's not that big of a deal. I do feel a lot better now. Honestly."

Tsubaki decided she was telling the truth and smiled. "Alright. Well, maybe Saturday?"

"Sure," Maka nodded. "I really need a night out."

During break, they all got in a big group again, attention on Maka.

"What did I say?" said Black Star. "I bet me visiting you in the hospital was good luck! I even amaze myself!" And, once again, he erupted into laughter. "You should be thanking-"

"HEY MAKA, DID SOUL SHOW YOU MY PICTURE?" bellowed Patty. Soul froze, terrified, remembering that he had left it behind at the hospital. He signaled to Maka, hoping she could read his thoughts. _Please, oh please, just say you saw it! _

She, by some miracle, understood. "Yeah! I liked it a lot," she grinned, much to Patty's joy. Soul sighed, relieved. Everyone continued talking and conversating. Except Kid, who never even looked at Maka.

Frustrated by this, she asked, "Kid? What's wrong?"

He winced. "Tell me something, Maka. Do you hate me?"

Confused, she said, "No, of course not-"

"THEN WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?"

"Kid, I have no idea what you're talking about!" Maka was horribly lost.

He thrust a finger towards her head. "Your. Hair."

Maka's hand flew up to her head, and she realized what he was saying. "Are you kidding me?"

But Kid was already on the ground, black squiggly lines floating up above his head. "It was so symmetrical!" Everyone sweatdropped.

Maka considered slapping him, but decided against it. After all, he would only recognize that she slapped one side of his face, not two. "You're really creepy sometimes, Kid, you know that?" Everyone burst out laughing.

It seemed that things were finally going back to normal. Until Professor Stein called, "Maka and Soul! You're needed in Shinigami-sama's office."

**haha. for you, kid, i'll wear my hair in pigtails every day ;DD lol kid is my favorite :333 it wasn't really a kidxmaka scene or anything, he just had one of those moments.**

**anyways, COMMENT! ! THE OFFER STILL REMAINS!**


	15. A Break

**~thank u everyone for your amazing support! i actually read a review today that made me so happy i fist-pumped the air. then my sister was like, wtf you doing? then i just kind of froze, holding that pose. i felt like i was in an anime and i was sweatdropping XDDD**

**~i've been really busy lately, so sorry the updates are taking so long. im writing another fanfiction for Shugo Chara, planning another SE fanfic i may or may not actually write, and i just finished season 1 of vampire knight today (okay, i dare you to find a better ending credit song than that one! heres the link. go ahead. i DARE u! - .com/watch?v=VuutK_82CKg **

**~anyways (sorry, im like adhd) if u'd like me to make more WTF moments and help me make a frikin retard outta myself (actually, i don't really need help with that) then LEAVE A COMMENT!**

**~bytheway, superchick is the best band ever. just saying (especially hold, stand in the rain, crawl. look 'em up!)**

**~…(leave a comment) AHEM ohkay, no more stalling! here it is!**

Chapter 14- A Break

For some reason, that almost painful silence returned as Soul and Maka walked to Shinigami-sama's office. Maka didn't know why it had suddenly become so awkward.

…_On a date with Soul?_

Oh, yeah. That's why._ Dammit, Tsubaki, why'd you have to say that? _Maka thought to herself.

"Um, Maka?" Soul asked, jolting Maka back to reality.

"Huh?"

She didn't realize it up until Soul had spoken it. Signaling to the door, he said, "We're here."

"Oh! Yeah, right, sorry. I kinda zoned out," she nervously laughed.

"Whatever," he said, pushing the door open.

"~"

Maka didn't even get a chance to fully enter the room when she was ambushed by her papa. He hugged her as if she were some teddy bear. "How's my little Maka-chi doing? Are you feeling better? Do you have a fever? Let Papa-chan-"

"MAKA-CHOP!"

"SHINIGAMI-CHOP!"

Both Maka and Shinigami thrust their hands (well, one very animated hand and a book) on either side of Deathscythe's skull, effectively shutting him up and leaving two large dents in his head. He lay there, unconscious for a while. Maka seized the opportunity, turning to Shinigami. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it~!"

"What is it you called us in here for, now?"

Shinigami bounced forwards a little. "Firstly, I'd like to say welcome back, Maka-chan!" He smiled behind his mask. "And then, we get into more serious matters….."

"What is it?" asked Soul, impatient.

"Well…." he put his large, cartoon hand on his chin. "You see, I got the results from the hospital on Maka-chan's condition. PTSD isn't something to be taken lightly, you know. It's a very serious problem that affects one's emotional, physical and mental levels. All the disruption it causes leaves damage done to one's soul wavelength."

Maka froze, her heart sinking rapidly. She understood. "You mean…..you don't want us to battle?"

"Well….." Shinigami squeaked.

Maka felt like she'd had the wind knocked out of her. "Wh-What?" she whispered to herself.

"Not permanently, of course!" Shinigami said, tying to lighten the mood. "Only temporarily, until your soul has repaired enough! Don't worry, you'll be able to battle again soon enough!"

"Oh," Maka said, relieved. "Good…so, uhm, when will that be, do you think?"

Flashing an o-kay sign, he responded, "Probably only about a few weeks!"

Maka gasped. "A few weeks! That's a long time!" Usually, she'd take up a mission once every few days. Going weeks without taking a mission was unthinkable.

"Oh, it'll fly by before you know it! Think about it as a break! So, moving on….."

Maka wasn't expecting more. "Huh? There's something else?"

Shinigami turned to Soul. "Soul-chan, if I could just have a few words with you. Alone," he chimed, as if it was nothing.

Soul, who had been sitting back with his hands in his jacket's pockets this whole time, bored, looked up. "Me?"

He turned back to Maka. "That's all for you, Maka-chan. I promise, I won't keep Soul-chan for long!~"

Maka looked surprised. "Oh. Uhm, okay then." She turned to walk back outside.

"MAKAAA!~" Spirit interjected himself from Maka's escape, back to his conscious, flowery self. He jumped in the air like a ballerina, smiling like a creeper.

"Excuse me," Maka said coldly, obviously not forgiving him for not calling or visiting his daughter during her depressed period. "I need to get through." She walked around him and out the door, Spirit stuck in midair. His eye twitched for a moment before he let out a depressed wail, taking out his Maka doll, sobbing.

Shinigami and Soul, who had been watching this scene, turned back to each other. "So," Soul began. "What do you want?"

**Ugh, I'm so sorry this chapter is really short. I'm exhausted and I wanted a cliffhanger. I'll probably end up writing the next chapter tonight, though X)**

**I'd like to say thank you very much! I got, like, 10 comments for the last chapter, which made me really really happy ^_^ so, that being said, LEAVE MORE!**


	16. A Simple Question

**~i'd just like to say u guys are the awesomest people ever ^_^ i got the best reviews and i was so happy, and right now, as i'm writing this, i got such great review in an hour that i had to start writing the next chapter immediately. that, and i got kind of inspired. ahhahahhhhh (heart sign) im so excited for this chapter! LEAVE A COMMENT IF U WANT MORE ALICE-CHAN SPAZ ATTACKS! :DDDDDDD**

**~also; i just got computer restrictions :'( i probably wont be able to upload as much. just telling u now, so don't get mad at me!**

Chapter 15- A Simple Question

Maka waited patiently outside of Shinigami's office, hands in her lap, swinging her legs back and forth like a five year old. She had this problem of never being able to keep still (unless, of course, she was on a mission- in which case, she'd immediately calm all of the nerves in her body) Her head was staring up at the high ceiling, lost in thought.

She wasn't supposed to go on any missions for _weeks? _That seemed ridiculous! For years, she had been taking up missions whenever she had the chance, struggling to become the best meister at DWMA. Now, all of a sudden, she was just supposed to stop?

Well, since they were orders, she'd have no choice but to bite her tongue.

_What do I do, now? I'll have a ton of free time. And I already study as much as I need to, and hourly visits to the bookstore on a daily basis may be just a little too much. _Maka sighed in frustration.

_Maybe I really do have no life._

"What's this all about, Shinigami-sama?" Soul asked, hands still deep in his jacket pockets.

"Yeah," Spirit added. "I'd kind of like to know, too."

"Spirit~," Shinigami squeaked. "If you don't mind, this doesn't really involve you.~"

"If this is about my daughter, then it sure as hell-"

"Spirit," said Shinigami, all squeakiness evaporated.

Surprised at the sudden tone, Spirit awkwardly left the room, leaving behind an, "O…okay."

Once he was sure Spirit was gone, Shinigami returned back to Soul, who now was uncomfortable at the shifted tone. "Well, then!~"

Soul waited for him to say something. "….."

"…."

"….…"

"…."

"WHAT?" boomed Soul, impatient as always.

Shinigami turned a little more serious. "We've been putting off this meeting about your new position as a deathscythe for a while now. Haven't we?"

Soul's heart dropped, unsettled by this. He, too, had been avoiding it as best as possible. He didn't respond, instead trying to remain composed as he stared at Shinigami.

He continued. "As you know, once a weapon is 'leveled up' into a deathscythe, it is his duty to serve me, Shinigami."

Soul still did not say anything.

"However."

His heart lept a bit.

"I am willing to postpone that for a while. At the very least, until Maka is stable again. She needs someone she can trust- a good friend, her partner- to be with her. As you often match soul wavelengths, it would not be very healthy for her to be separated from you for long periods of times. In fact, I believe that her condition would be much worse if it were not for you."

"What do you mean?" Soul asked, relieved that he could stay with his meister when she needed him most. He didn't get the last part, though. "About her condition being worse."

Shinigami bounced a little. "I'm not a doctor. But, I don't think that PTSD is just something that comes and goes with a trigger. Maka seems completely fine. I wouldn't think that most people with PTSD, or anything of that nature at all, would be totally fine most of the time. When they aren't 'reliving the experience', like, for instance, when Maka is not fainting after seeing something that reminded her of her mother, then I would think that there might still be _some _things wrong with them."

Soul had never thought about this. "Oh….yeah, I see what you mean. But then, what do I have to do with that?"

Shinigami responded, "Well, my theory is that, in the process of making you a deathscythe, your souls have become very linked to each other- even more than usual. Maybe her soul is naturally healthier around yours. This theory, even though it is just that- a guess- is why I'd rather not separate you two just quite yet. Now, once Maka-chan has made a full recovery, then perhaps we will reopen this conversation, okay~?"

Soul was still trying to gather all of it in his head. "Um, yeah, sure….."

"Excellent~! Alright, now, you may go back to class. Stein might get mad if I keep you any longer."

Clearing his head, Soul said, "Oh, right. Yeah, okay." He turned to leave.

"Oh, there is one more thing though, Soul-chan."

Soul turned back to face Shinigami. "Meisters and weapons _do _form a natural bond when they work together. Even when two people, as a team, are creating a deathscythe, they form a close bond. Although, it seems that the personal bond you share with Maka-chan is even stronger than most of those bonds I've seen. Except, of corse, the ones that….." he trailed off.

"Yes?"

"Well…if I may, Soul-chan, what is Maka-chan to you?"

Soul definitely did not expect this, and literally took a step back when he heard this. "Wha-"

"It's a simple question! What is Maka-chan to you?"

_It is not a simple question, _was Soul's first thought. He pondered it for a while. "Uh, well, she's my meister."

"Yes?"

He continued thinking. "Well, she's my best friend." Sometimes, he wondered if Black*Star counted as a best friend when he was so damned conceded.

Shinigami stopped here, staring at Soul. He paused.

"I see," he finally said.

Soul shifted uncomfortably in place.

"Well then~!" Shinigami chirped back up. "Go on, now! I don't want to keep you for much longer! Have a nice day~!" he said, waving a large, squishy hand at Soul.

Soul, still with a confused expression on his face, left the room. _That was weird. _

He opened the doors back to the hallway, greeted by Maka, who was standing by the door, waiting. "So?"

"So."

She slapped his arm. "Seriously! What did he want?" The pair began their trip back to Stein's class.

"Nothing interesting," Soul said, keeping his cool.

Maka grumbled, "Tell me!"

He sighed. _Better think up something quick. _"Nothing, really. He just wanted to see how we had been doing so far on missions." Eh, it'll do.

She furrowed her brow, obviously not satisfied. "Well, why couldn't I be in the room, then?"

He shrugged. "Beats me."

Maka clearly knew he wasn't telling her everything, but gave up anyway, walking alongside him back to class. He was relieved.

…_..what is Maka-chan to you?_

This question really bothered him. What was he trying to ask? Why the hell was he asking in the first place?

What _was _Maka to him? His meister? Yes. His best friend? Yeah, if you didn't include Black*Star, which, for some reason, he didn't. What else was there?

_Ba-Bump, _answered his heart.

Shocked, Soul thought, _What? What the hell was…._

He shook his head. Obviously he was imagining things. That was kind of stupid to even think. Psh, his heart suddenly beat faster. Yeah, okay. Whatever.

"Soul?"

"Huh?" answered Soul, still dazed.

She was quiet again. "Um…..just…never mind."

He hated when people did this. "Spit it out."

She looked at her feet as she put one in front of the other. "Just…thanks, and sorry."

He looked at her. "What's that for?"

"Sorry that you can't go on missions for a while, and I'm kind of holding you back."

"Maka, don't say-"

"And thanks," she cut him off. "For sticking by my all this time." She looked up, meeting his glance.

He stared into her green eyes, almost seeing his reflection in them, before turning back to focus on the classroom a few yards ahead of him. "Don't mention it."

"Really," she insisted. "I'm very grateful."

"Really, Maka, it's not that big of a deal."

"Yeah," she said, stopping a few feet away from the door. "It is. You put up with me through all of the things I've been through in the past few days and not said a word about it; instead, you helped me. And what do I have to repay you for it?"

"Repay? Maka, that's stupid. You're my meister. If I didn't do all of those things, I'd be a horrible weapon."

She kept staring at his eyes that were like blood. He looked back, unblinking. Hers held concern, and his held honesty.

She looked a second more before looking away, saying, "Yeah, alright. Well, thanks anyways!"

When they both walked inside the class, they found a ton of pairs of eyes focused at them. They suddenly became very self conscious. Maka twitched her hand and, sure enough, sometime along their path, they had subconsciously joined hands. Maka thrust her hand away, trying to keep her blush held back, staring at the ground.

"Ahem," came a voice. Stein. "Well, then, if you'd please take your seats, we will resume class again." He smirked below his glasses.

Maka hurriedly walked ahead of Soul and to her seat, while he lazily proceeded to his as if nothing had happened. Eventually, class began again, and people continued with where their conversation had left off as Stein prepared notes to write down on the board.

Maka buried her face in her hands, and, in doing so, she felt how warm they had become. Her attempts to control her blush had hopelessly been ruined.

Tsubaki failed to fight back a smile as she watched Maka.

**kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa (heart sign) ahahaaaa! kawaii, yes? no? well, i wont know unless u leave a damn comment kyaaa~ ^_^**

**alright, it is officially 1:23 where I am. Not going to sleep yet, but I'll post this tomorrow. Don't wanna do 2 uploads in, like 3 hours. I like immediate feedback. hate having to wait a day XPPP**

**anyways, PLEAAAAAAAAASSSSSEEEE REVIEEEEEWW!**


	17. Woah

**~holy shit guys, my story reached over 5000 hits and over 100 comments :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD thank u so much! u guys, just…..you all deserve, like, six trillion cookies (handing out cookies for good deeds seem to be ver popular here). unfortunately, i only have enough to give everyone 2 ;) but seriously, i'm so happy~ u succeeded in making me squeal and fist pump the air again XDDD ahahaaa i must look like a retard:3**

**~also, sorry for the late (late for me) updates! again, computer restriction XPP eh, let me not think of that X(**

**~WOOOOOOOOOOOO SO EFFIN PUMPED FOR THIS CHAPTER! LETS GO!**

***also- remember that Maka still is in her normal clothes (jeans & t-shirt), not her meister/school clothes. i don't know why i feel the need to say it again, but just remember, in case u forgot. **

Chapter 16- Woah

Once the bell had rung, signaling the end of the school day, Maka let out a breath, slumping her shoulders. She was so exhausted after making up work that she had missed, and, since this was a first, it completely wore her out. She was always so on top of things when it came to school, and missing three days was even worse than she thought it would be. Not to mention the fact that she completely neglected her homework all that time, _and _the class had started a new lesson on Monday, leaving Maka two days behind. She had never felt this worn out in all of her life- well, from school, at least. Missions had definitely been tiring. But THIS. The thing she was supposed to EXCEL at. She rested her head on the desk, her loose hair flowing over the desk.

"Maka, c'mon," came a voice from behind her. Maka turned to see Soul hunched over her, looking down at her head. She was aggravated by him disturbing her peaceful moment until she noticed that he seemed tired as well. It occurred to her that she wasn't the only one who had missed school. He seemed eager to leave, probably anticipating a nap by the way his eyes were drooping even more than usual.

Lifting her head back up, Maka sighed, "Yeah, I know." She packed up her stuff and walked out with Soul to his motorcycle.

On the ride home, Maka had so much fatigue that she rested her head on Soul's back, closing her eyes, intending on taking a short nap of her own. It was about 10 minutes or so back to the apartment, and a ten minute break before she got back to doing schoolwork was a very welcoming thought.

But as soon as she closed her eyes, a picture of her holding hands with Soul flashed into her mind.

She snapped her head up, gasping. Noticing this, Soul asked, "What?"

Eyes wide, she replied in a shaky voice, "N-Nothing. Sorry." Guess she wasn't getting a rest after all.

Soul wasn't convinced that it was nothing, but was far too tired to care. "Whatever."

Maka looked at the back of his head, at the white landscape before her. She laughed a bit, thinking how, when his hair was blowing back, it kind of reminded her of a forest covered in blankets of thick snow, the trees being parts of his spiky hare hat stuck back. _A snow covered forest, _thought Maka, suddenly unsettled. _Why don't I want to think about this?_

When they opened the door to their apartment, the two immediately crashed on the long couch. "Oh my god," Maka said, voice slightly muffled by the pillow she was half- speaking into. "I have never felt that exhausted by school in all of my life. And I have been very stressed from school."

Soul, who was dominating most of the couch, while Maka was to the far right of it, muttered, "Yeah." Clearly, he was too tired to give much of a response. Maka was very sympathetic. He had always done the bare minimum at school, and now- because HE had to look after HER- he had missed so much that the bare minimum would've been an F minus. And he wasn't _that _unconcerned about school. After all, Shibusen kicked you out if you didn't pass with a D+ at the least. Maka felt guilty now, and her determination won over her fatigue.

Standing up, she said, "Well, you take a nap. I'm gonna take a bath and do homework." Somehow, he was already fast asleep, apparent by his body moving evenly up and down, his mouth slightly open, drool beginning to form on the corner of his mouth. Maka laughed quietly to herself at the sight. She took a folded up blanket that rested on top of the couch and laid it over him, smiling again at how peaceful he looked. She then proceeded to the bathroom, starting up the bathtub.

When the tub was ready at her most preferred temperature, Maka slid into the water, letting out a huge sigh as she sunk into the water. _How nice. _She felt all of the stress in her muscles begin to fade away, and the worries in her mind melted into oblivion with it. She closed her eyes again, starting to fall asleep right there.

The image of her holding hands with Soul crept back up into her eyes. But this time, although very shocked, she didn't force them away. Instead, she watched as the scene transformed into her leaning her head on him, sleeping, while he had his head nestled on hers. The moments flooded in on her; of him resting his hand on hers while they were sitting on the kitchen floor, of him hugging her in the hospital, and him sleeping in the emergency room, waiting for her to wake up. Farther back; of the both of them licking happily at their ice cream, of her sitting next to him, watching him rest at the bookstore, of them hugging again right outside of the bookstore. Even more; of him cooking breakfast for her, of him sleeping by her bedside when she was afraid of her nightmares.

Then, the flashbacks took her before this whole mess even happened; of her kneeling by him, touching her forehead with his at the battle with Asura, of her falling next to him and him shielding her fall when she couldn't stop the kishin the first time, of him shielding himself from the black blooded sword, of them-

"STOP!"

Maka was gasping violently now. It was all to much. Noticing how loud she had been, she slowly got up and wrapped a towel around her, peeking through the door to look at Soul. He was still on the couch, sleeping. Relieved, she plopped back into the bathtub.

Maka put her head in her hands, only to find that, once again, she was blushing. Thrusting her hands back into the water, she groaned, her eyes pushing together into a frown. _What _was _that? _She asked herself. She let out a shaky breath, trying to calm herself. A lump in her throat was discovered when she tried to swallow. Her heartbeat had been amplified heavily, jolting her body with each pound. Wondering the meaning of the things she saw, she sunk a little deeper into the lukewarm water, eyes about level with it now.

The rest of the bath was uneasy, and Maka ended up getting out earlier than she had expected. Wrapping the towel around her body again, she focused on her hair. Extracting the blow dryer from the cabinet below the sink, she plugged it in and began drying it. After about ten minutes, she acknowledged how hopeless it was, since she was too distracted to evenly dry it. Only the front parts of her hair and her bangs had completely dried, so she hastily tied up her hair in a pony tail, towel drying it quickly before facing the door.

Soul was out there. Probably awake by now.

It wasn't like it was that big of a deal. Not at all. He had seen her in a towel before when she walked from the bathroom to her bedroom. He had always ignored it, shrugging her off like it was nothing. The first time he saw her in only a towel, she flushed, but he didn't really care. She thought this might bother her, but it actually made her feel more comfortable.

But now, she was nervous to walk out to her room in it on. It was stupid, but true. Unable to find a reason why she should't, she hesitantly opened the door and walked to her room. She stared at the ground, focusing on it intently, afraid to look up.

"Hey," Soul's voice surprise-attacked her. Maka tried not to jump at the sound of his voice, and failed. She held back a gasp, looking up at him, startled. He was taken aback by the surprised look in her eyes. "I was just gonna ask what dinner was."

Relieved, Maka relaxed. "Oh. I don't know, just order in whatever you want. I'm too tired to cook."

He nodded. "Alright," he said, heading for the phone. Maka took this opportunity to dash back to her room.

After closing the door behind her, she threw her back against the door, her face absolutely scarlet. _Well, what was I expecting? _Her heart continued to shake her body ignoring her mind's question that was directed to it. Maka pushed her bangs out of her face viciously. "Idiot idiot idiot!" She racked her head back and forth, squeezing her eyes shut.

Huffing, she collapsed on the bed. "What's wrong with me?"

An hour and a half later, after changing into sweatpants and a tank top and doing almost all of her homework (she was exceptionally skilled at it by now), Maka emerged from her room, yawning. "Soul?"

"Yeah?" came a voice from the couch. He had the t.v. turned on and looked a little less tired after taking the nap.

"What did you order?"

"Pizza. That okay?" He still had his eyes on the t.v.

"Yeah, sure." She stretched before going into the kitchen to get her phone. She had accidentally left it on the table and now it showed one new message from Tsubaki. Maka opened it to reveal a few words. _Sleepover on Saturday. 8 sharp at Kid's._

Maka smiled, excited. She hadn't been to one of their famous sleepovers in a while now. Of course it would be at Kid's place. Her and Tsubaki's were both far too cramped. The four of them- the two and the Thompson sisters- begged Kid for months before he finally agreed to let them have sleepovers. Not without threatening them quite horribly first, though, that if _anything _was to be out of place in the whole mansion, save for Liz and Patty's room, he would not hesitate to kick them out and not speak with them ever again. Sweatdropping, they agreed.

Maka quietly giggled at the memory. Soul hear this and turned. "Huh?"

She shook her head. "Nothing." She walked into the living room now. "I'm going to a sleepover on Saturday."

Maka expected him to give off nothing but a grunt of approval, but instead, he looked at her, concerned. She took this by surprise. "W-What?"

Now _he _shook his head. "No, it's just….."

She got the hint. _Oh, I see. _"I'll be fine. Don't worry."

He still looked uneasy. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, of course. We're talking about Liz, Patty and Tsubaki. Of course I'll be fine."

Soul returned to the t.v. screen, not watching it. Shinigami's words rung in his head. _…. I'd rather not separate you two just quite yet. _Well, she would be fine for one night. And it _was_ just Tsubaki and everyone. It was only a sleepover.

"Man," Maka's voice brought him back to the present. "Even though I'm too tired tonight, it feels so empty not having any missions."

"Yeah, you're right," he said, noticing this too.

The door bell sounded at that moment. Soul got up and went to get the pizza, handing over the cash to the delivery man and taking it to the table.

"Great, I'm starving!" Maka said, eyes shining at the smell that was wafting to her nose.

Once they had sat back down, plate of pizza on their laps, they vigorously mauled the food down, hungry after the long day they had. Maka wondered why she suddenly felt so natural around Soul. Only a couple of hours ago, she was shaking at the thought of him. Now, she was sitting on the couch, casually eating next to him as if absolutely nothing was different. _I guess once I got so distracted by homework and stuff, the feeling just went away. _Hmm, she added. Weird.

**YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAAAAAAAAAYYYYY FINALLY WROTE THIS BABY!:DDDDDDD PLEEEEEASE UBER(my word of the week)PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT! i wanna know your reaction! Next chapter has even MORE SoMa, if everything goes according to plan! :DDDDDDDD ahahahaaaaaaa im so frikin excited**


	18. Matchmakers

**~Im sooooooooo sorry this took so long! i have, like, no time anymore :((((( ugh! but! i will not stop until i finish this! WOO!**

**~i recently began writing a new SE fanfic, called Moonstone. u cud check it out, if u want ;)**

**~please leave a comment! PLEASE! this took me, like, 4 hours (i know, im pathetic) so please comment!**

Chapter 17- Matchmakers

Maka snapped her eyes wide. "Wait. So you're saying you want us to stay home _again?" _

"Precisely," came a bored voice from the other side of the phone.

"B-But, Professor Stein, I-"

"Maka," he cut her off. "Are you going against the word of a teacher?"

"What? N-No, it's just that I've already missed so much school! It's more than I've ever missed in my entire life…..combined!"

Stein chuckled. "You're just like your m-" He caught himself right at the last second. Coughing and hoping she didn't catch on to his implication, he continued. "Look, Maka, it's just that I'm afraid all of this stress may wear you down."

Maka thought this was quite ironic. "Me? Stressed?"

"Well, considering that your soul has taken some pretty serious damage in the past week, I wouldn't think it to be illogical."

Maka opened her mouth to protest, but nothing came out. Stein took the opening. "This will give you time to make up the homework you missed. The next two days are just going to be reviewing all of the notes you took yesterday, and anyway, according to my files, you have an….uhm, appointment on Friday."

_Appointment? What the hell is he-…..oh, right. Therapy. _Maka had desperately tried not to think about it, pushing the dreadful reminder that she wasn't okay back down whenever it popped up. "Oh. Right."

Stein sighed. "You'll be okay, Maka. Really."

The scene in her subconsciousness with her mother painted itself in her mind at these words. _I hope so._

"Ahem," Stein coughed again after a few silent moments. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have to prepare for tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of the week, Maka."

She nodded, then remembered that Stein couldn't see. "Oh, er, right. Uh, thanks."

She slid the telephone back in its place, heaving a sigh. She didn't know what to do now. There was no school, no missions, no nothing. The only thing she had was homework, and with the sudden amount of time on her hands, she knew it wouldn't take nearly as long to complete as she predicted.

Maka couldn't help but to feel like something was weird here. Stein never cared if someone was under a lot of stress. He was a no nonsense teacher, lecturing students on not complaining about the workload and just doing it. So what the hell was this about?

Stein yawned, swiveling his chair in his office to face a large mirror. "What's this all about, Shinigami-sama?"

A comical figure in black revealed itself. Death. "Weeell~" he squeaked, "I find their situation to be a rather exceptional one, you see."

Even though Stein knew he wanted him to ask, he let Shinigami have his way. "And why is that?"

Satisfied with Stein playing along, he responded, "In case you have not noticed, their soul wavelengths have quite a strong bond."

Of course Stein noticed this. "So?"

"Hmmm~!" Was Shinigami giddy? "I think if we could help them- give them an extra push, if you will- this could be beneficial to everyone!"

Stein smirked, amused. "Oh? How so?" _So we're matchmakers now?_

"Well, Soul-chan is already a deathscythe, and Maka takes after her mom- a fantastic meister with an anti-magic wavelength. Their soul wavelengths match beautifully. Can you imagine how- I daresay _unstoppable- _they would be if their soul wavelengths would just get a little stronger with each other?"

"Oh, I see." Stein still wasn't content with this. "I do, however, hope you realize how dangerous this is." Shinigami waited. "They are teenagers, after all. Their hormonal levels have not yet balanced out and they, for the most part, aren't sure who they're interested in. What if this is a mistake? Even worse- what if they argue often with each other? As it is, their soul wavelengths are dangerously unleveled when they fight. If their souls were to intensify, and they were to get into another serious fight, then that might even do some permanent damage, if I'm not incorrect."

"Ah~" Shinigami looked (well, seemed, Stein couldn't see past that damned mask) as if he was hoping to be asked this. "But~! I don't see these two as just another couple of kids in love. Like I said, their souls match perfectly. Perhaps a small fight might do a bit of harm, but that is only one way as I see it! You see, Stein, I have lived many, many years. I have seen many people fall in and out of love. And I always knew they would. Yet, there would always be that one pair that weren't just being fooled. They really were meant to be- I could tell. By their souls." He bounced. "Maka-chan and Soul-chan may bicker a bit, but their souls cannot be parted. They fit too well. Even though they may not know it, their souls already know that they won't find another soul that matches it so well. No matter what, those souls will always find a way back to each other."

Stein carefully considered all of his words. "You said their souls cannot be parted. What if they are driven apart, though?"

"Tell me, Stein. How long do they stay mad at each other when they 'fight'?"

Stein thought about their most serious argument, that time with the candles. "I suppose about a day or two, maybe a little longer…"

"Exactly~!" Shinigami cheered. "Like I said, their souls never want to leave each others presence. Their owners are just a bit thick-headed sometimes," he giggled, using his oversized index finger to motion to his temple.

"So what your saying is," Stein said. "We're helping them hook up so that they'll become stronger- and in turn, they can defeat more kishin?"

"Yup~! Pretty much~!"

Stein smirked his signature smirk, taking out a cigarette and lighting it up. _This man is a genius, even if he doesn't look like it, _he thought, blowing a puff of smoke up to the ceiling.

"What was that about?" Soul stretched on the couch, belly stuffed to the point of stretching. An empty pizza box sat on the living room table, sitting on stacks of books that Maka had been studying from. After Soul nagged her enough (and receiving quite a few Maka-chops in turn), she finally gave up and watched t.v. with him. He stared mindlessly at the screen, constantly being bombarded with questions about the show, as she had not watched the first two seasons. Surrendering the remote to her after figuring it wasn't worth being bothered every few minutes, Maka then shuffled through the channels and was halfway through them when the phone rang. While she went to answer it, Soul sneaked the channel back to what he had been watching previously.

Maka walked back into the living room, taking a seat next to him. She noticed the channel was back to what he wanted, but ignored it. "Well, we've got tomorrow and Friday off."

Soul, who hadn't heard a word of the conversation, sat up straight at the sound of this. "What? Are you serious? Don't screw with me, Maka!" he said, although he was grinning.

Maka laughed at his toothy grin. "I'm _not_ messing with you, Soul. Stein said that he would give us the next two days- well, four days with the weekend- to make up all of the work. He said that the workload may hurt my soul wavelength…." She trailed off, thinking back to the conversation. _It still seems weird, though._

This was definitely good enough for Soul, though, who let out an, "Alright!" He laughed triumphantly, throwing himself back on the couch. "So, what do you wanna do tomorrow, then? Besides study and homework," he teased.

Maka sat back, thinking. She already had all the books she wanted, there were no missions, and school, the thing that took up half of her day, was off limits. "Um…I don't really know. Whatever you wanna do, I guess."

Soul liked the sound of that. "Whatever I wanna do, huh?"

Maka, on the other hand, was starting to not like the sound of this. "Soul?" she asked cautiously.

He flashed her a sly smile. "Trust me on this one."

**Oooooh cliffhanger (; well, sorry it took this long, and its not even that much. i didn't even intend for the chapter to go like this. i expected it to go a totally different direction, but this'll do. (these things write themselves)**

**COMMENT! -**

**be sure to check out Moonstone!**


	19. Take Two

**well, this took me long enough XD im sorry again about these taking so long. i literally, after posting the last chapter up, said to myself, "Wait. I have no idea what to put next." XDDD lmao, i had no idea what Soul meant either, but I took some time thinking about it, and I think this is pretty good. idk, just LEAVE A COMMENT!**

Chapter 18- Take Two

"I don't know, Soul," Maka stuttered, not really expecting his response.

"Maka, it'll be fine. Trust me, you need a day off," her partner lazily responded.

"I already have today off! And tomorrow!" Maka pouted. "I just don't feel right wasting away a whole day, doing nothing."

He rolled his eyes. "Your making doing nothing sound bad. And we _won't _be doing nothing for the whole day. I still have another surprise."

They both shifted in their seats on the couch, remembering the last time Soul "surprised" her.

Maka had gone to sleep uneasily the night before in anticipation for that day. Soul had refused to tell her of his plans, which were seeming more and more mischievous with each smirk on his face. She didn't know what to expect, but a day of doing nothing wasn't one of them. Yes- Soul had actually planned a day of doing nothing. Only Soul. He had actually seemed pretty pumped about his plans, though, so Maka expected….well, _something. _Of course, to anyone else, doing nothing for a whole day seemed fun, enjoyable, but Maka had never done such things, always making each minute of her life productive.

Not entirely pleased with Soul's idea, she asked, "What exactly does doing nothing imply?"

Soul smirked (oh god) as he replied, "Three things." Maka leaned in a bit when he paused. "T.v., junk food, and…" She waited. "Black Ops."

Maka sat there for a moment, staring at Soul, who seemed quite leased with himself, not understanding. "That sounds horrible. What the hell is Black Ops?"

Soul sighed, disappointed, suppressing a face-palm at the last part. _Well, she's no Black Star. _"It's a game."

This seemed to appeal to her a bit. "Oh, what kind of game?"

"It's Call of Duty."

Maka stared, waiting for him to explain that to her. "Jeez, Maka, you've never heard of Call of Duty?" She shook her head. "Wow, you need a life. Lame."

"MAKA-"

"Woah, woah there," Soul squealed, confiscating her book that she was reaching for on the table.

"Soul! Give it back!" Maka cried. Usually, she was too quick for him, but her fatigue slowed her down quite a bit.

Instead of following his meister's orders, he decided to sit on it, to which Maka freaked out even more.

"Gah, Soul! That's my special Maka-chop book! Don't sit on it!"

Raising up a hand, insisting her to calm down, Soul said, "Just stay with me. Today'll be cool. Trust me on this one."

Maka eyed him suspiciously, not sure if she should follow his words. "Hmmm…" Giving up, she sighed. "Fine. Now can I have my book back?"

Soul hesitantly handed the book- a dictionary, he observed- back to Maka.

She cleared her throat before finishing her battle cry. "CHOOOOP!"

Within seconds, Soul was on the ground, large dent in his head, which was producing steam and sizzling.

"I was right. That was horrible."

As promised, Soul did not permit Maka to do anything the entire day other than watch t.v., eat the chips and cookies and such that only Soul ever ate (which made maka kind of want to puke everywhere), and play…uh, that game. Maka was forgetting the name. Black…..something. Ops. Black Ops. Yeah, that. Well, Black Ops in itself took Maka hours to get down. First of all, she had never even held a controller, let alone played Xbox. The joystick was simple enough, and of course, the up, down, left, right arrows weren't complicated, it was just the a, b, x, and y buttons. Although the plot line seemed interesting, she could not get the technicalities of fighting in the game. There was also the fact that whenever she got tasseled or a bomb went off, she yelped in fear. And you had to…..ugh, Maka didn't even want to think about it. Let's just say that, by the evening, Soul had deemed her absolutely hopeless, allowing her to just sit and watch as he blew through the streets. It was pathetic- she never even exceeded the first level. Video games were pretty much the only thing in her entire life she always failed at.

Maka groaned, sprawled on the couch awkwardly. An entire day of intaking nothing but junk food and soda, inactive except for her thumbs that desperately tried to maneuver successfully, had definitely taken its toll on her. Lethargy spread throughout her body, consuming her. Soul wasn't in much of a better condition- he was laying on the floor, bag of chips resting on his stomach, Xbox controller motionless in his hand. "Well," Maka began. "That was completely pointless."

Soul laughed a little, still limp on the floor. "C'mon. I'm sure it wasn't that bad."

She rolled her eyes. "My body feels like it can't move, I feel brain-dead, and I got absolutely nothing accomplished today."

"Exactly."

She humphed, "I don't think that's exactly a good definition of 'fun', Soul."

He raised a brow. "Well then, I guess that means t's time for your surprise."

Sh rolled her head on the couch to face where he was laying on the floor. "And what's that?"

"Not telling."

Frustrated, she furrowed her brows. "Why not?"

He chuckled at her aggravation. "Idiot, it's a surprise." He willed his body to get up, blood rushing to his head by doing so. It took him a moment to regain his balance, shifting to the side upon standing. He held out a hand to Maka.

She sighed at the implications. "I have to get up?"

He smiled. "It'll be fun."

"I've heard that before."

Narrowing his eyes at her stubbornness, he jiggled his hand, saying, "Yeah, but you'll actually like this."

Skeptical, she looked at his bloodshot eyes, then to the hand outstretched towards her. Eyeing it cautiously, she hesitated before lifting her hand up to meet his. He grasped it and jerked her up into a sitting position. "Hurry up and get ready," he said, concealing his excitement.

He knew that, even though she'd never admit it to herself, she had fun. She'd cracked a smile quite a few times, her competitive personality made her cheer him on (well, more like scream at him to kick ass), and it had been so long since she'd had junk food, so she'd smile at the food when she thought he wasn't looking. He was doing quite well so far. Now, the rest of the night just needed to not get screwed up. Like last time.

**Sorry! this was all i could post for now. so sorry its really short!**

**yaaay, iz my brothers birthday tomorrow! :D sorry, im just excited.**

**COMMENTCOMMENTCOMMENT! i check my mail about 5-10 times a day for review alerts and stuff. (yeah, imam loser XD)**


	20. Vivid Lights

**-ahhhhh, so sorry this is taking forever! but thank you SO much for all of your support, and thank you sooo much for the comments and I squeal like a little baby seal whenever I get a really good one. Just thought u shud know that.**

**-i just wanna let you know i DESPISE how little time i seem to be having -.- i just finished The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya seasons 1,2 and the movie! harihixkyon definitlyyyyyyyy! although i think, somewhere inside, i like nagatoxkyon almost as much after seeing the movie. i LOVE the acapella ending song in the movie, yasashii boukyaku or something. ahhhh (heart sign) and im starting my 10th anime, *streamers!*, shakugan no shana!, and i also have my other story, moonstone, and a ton of homework i love to procrastinate on XP plus, ive been having a lot of writers block, so, yeah…..**

**-i've been getting a lot of comments and people seem to be thinking cause its been so long that ive updated that im not writing anymore of this story. WRONG SIRS! i definitely will not quit ever on this story! : [- look at it side ways, it looks like gopher! XD]**

Chapter 19- Vivid Lights

"How do I look?"

Maka walked out of her room, sporting new skinny jeans, a loose, grey t-shirt and converse. She just brushed her blonde hair, not wanting to have to fret about it tonight. Normal. Still, she wasn't quite sure if this was how she was supposed to dress; informal or formal. Soul had refused to give any details as to where they were going. Maka tried not to think about the last time Soul had surprised her. She shivered at the thought.

He glanced at her, understanding the question as her asking if it was appropriate attire. "You're fine."

"Okay," she said, walking over to the door. She picked up her bag, which had been laying on the door, noting a bright light being produced from within it. Reaching towards it, she felt the familiar shape of her cell phone. When she withdrew it, the screen told her she had one new text. It read, _Hey, where were u today? ~Tsubaki. _Hastily replying that she had the next two days off, not giving a further explanation, she then threw her bag over her shoulder and said, "C'mon, let's go," to Soul, who was waiting for her on the couch.

Soul nodded and walked out the door with her into the evening light. Maka felt refreshed as soon as she stepped out, feeling the outside air on her skin, taking a huge breath of air and releasing it contently. It felt so nice to be out of that stuffy apartment after being cramped in it all day. Her head was pounding horribly (probably from all the brain cells she had undoubtedly killed, or from the loud explosions from Black Ops.) She still had no idea where she was going, but it was a relief just to be out of that apartment.

Soul was already perched on his motorcycle, engine started. Maka followed his lead and climbed on it, excited. "Now will you tell me where we're going?"

"Nope." He accelerated at this, heading towards their destination.

Soul had tried to seem so nonchalant about this, but in reality, he was desperately hoping nothing would screw itself up. Another place with bright, colorful lights. Hopefully, this wouldn't have the same ending.

For about ten minutes, the two anxiously awaited to arrive. They simultaneously, yet unknowingly, hoped the same thing, as the place came closer and closer.

The first thing Maka noticed was the salty smell in the humid air. They were by Death City's seaport-yes, if you headed far enough west, eventually, you would find that Death City had a port and dock and such. The scent had been tinted with the smell of fish, to which Maka wrinkled her nose in disgust.

The next thing that registered to Maka were the lights. Glowing, vivid, beautiful lights, stretching on for miles. Although they had yet to carve themselves into specific shapes, those lights definitely made an impression in Maka's illuminated, jade eyes.

Following that were the sounds. Disregarding the gentle overlapping of the waves, a faint noise was heard in the distance. Music, to be specific. High pitched, uplifting music. The kind of music you'd kind of hear coming from an ice cream truck or a children's toy. And laughter mixed with adrenaline-fueled screams.

Maka gasped as she pieced it all together. A grin the size of Death City itself spread across her face. "Soul!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "A carnival?"

He chuckled, amused at her response. "Yeah."

She giggled like a little girl. "I've never been to one before!" She'd always been far too distracted by schoolwork or missions to take luxury in such events.

_Perfect, _Soul thought. This would be a first for Maka. A place where she didn't have any prior memories. Memories with her parents. With her mom.

"You'll like it. It's fun."

She laughed, elated. "Ahh, I'm so excited! What's it like?"

Pulling into a fairly packed parking lot, Soul responded as he searched for a space, "Well, uh...there's a lot of things..." He was distracted as an empty space only two rows back from the entrance stand came into view. "Yes!" He pulled in, victorious. Remembering Maka's question, he cut the engine and said, "There's games and rides and different things to do, I guess. Can't really explain it. You'll see."

Maka hopped off the motorcycle, skipping alongside Soul as they approached the ticket booth. It sat next to a metal bar that you walked through (**you know, the one with the three bar thinggys coming outta them. I dont know what theyre called, but u get what I mean) **and had a dorky looking college student working behind it. As the pair reached the front of the line, the guy asked, "Just two?" When they nodded, he sighed, bored, and handed them two tickets for them to enter.

Maka did a double take when she saw her receipt. "Oh, uhm, I think you actually charged us less. I wouldn't feel right not paying the full price." Soul's eyes turned to slits. _That's my money, first of all! And of course, Maka just had to point out if someone accidentally discounts us._

The guy tilted his head to the side, allowing his shaggy hair to move a bit. "Well tonight is couples night. All couple get a discount. You are a couple, right?"

And I'm telling you, you wouldn't believe how wide Maka's eyes got. She stuttered, "W-WHA-"

But she was cut off by Soul's arm around her waist. _Huh? _she asked herself, looking up at Soul. He looked at her, eyes clearly communicating: _Follow My Lead._

Soul smiled mischievously back at the guy. "Yeah, we are."

Maka knew she was supposed to act natural, but she felt her face become redder than the piercing lights all around her. She fidgeted with her wrist, feeling awkward in Soul's arm, and simply nodded to the guy, who looked like he could care less. He simply turned to the next people in line and began speaking to them.

The pair sighed in relief. "Sweet, a discount," Soul smirked as they proceeded through the metal bars. To do this, Soul had to drop his arm from around Maka, and go through alone. But just as soon as his touch left hers, she suddenly felt this small emptiness where it used to be. Ignoring the feeling, she pushed on into the park.

Maka gawked at the marvel. She had been focusing solely on the ticket booth up until now, wanting to take the whole scene in once she was inside. Now that she was, she permitted herself to look at everything. The most striking feature, she supposed, was an enormous ferris wheel about the size of a 20 story building. It leisurely turned every so often, adjusting itself so that the people experiencing it may observe the spectacle from a different viewpoint. Rows upon rows of stands littered the grounds, consisting games that involved darts and balloons, water guns, bulls-eyes, rubber duckies, bucket tosses, can knockdowns, dunk tanks, and one in which you strike a button with a mallet and hope the bell at the top rings. Of course, hundreds more filled the area, all looking very enjoyable, but these were just some stands tat came into view first. Besides stands, rides were clearly visible, ranging from haunted houses to ones that spun you rapidly around, to the main attraction; a ferris wheel that had to have been at least 20 stories hight, easily. At the far end near the dock was a dining area- although, maybe "dining" was too sophisticated of a term for an outdoor barbecue and snack joint. A DJ station was juxtaposed to it, and was currently pumping music so that the ground practically shook against its vibrations, secluded from the other carnival-like, pitchy, high-tuned music.

Maka swallowed.

It was places like these that really intimidated her. All of her fifteen years of lifeshe had spent her evenings cooped up in her room, studying or reading. Social environments such as these were not places she felt most comfortable with. She found herself staying right by Soul's side, actually holding on to his jacket like a small child, as they made their way into the scene.

"So," Soul began. "What do you wanna do first?"

She looked up at him with wide eyes. "Me? Uhm…I don't really know. W-What about you? I don't even know what there is to do here….."

Soul looked up and scanned everything around him, weighing his options. The merry-go-round and mini rollercoaster built for toddlers was definitely out.

His eyes finally rested on one place of interest; the bumper cars. "Over there," Soul pointed, grabbing Maka's hand with his free one and tugging her in that direction.

And that was the beginning of one of the best nights Maka had in a while. In their first ride, Soul had bet Maka that their was no way she could beat him at something he dominated so well, and she had gladly taken up the challenge. One of the perks was watching Soul fit his overgrown body in such a tiny space, causing Maka to go off in a fit off giggles as she easily slid her slim body in the space. Soul's mouth was practically unhinged as he watched Maka triumph over him, speeding well ahead of him and winning the title of the winner.

The next thing they had chosen was the classic Tilt-a-Whirl, another proposition by Soul that she wouldn't be able to handle it. Already on her high horse, she took up the challenge. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't as lucky this time, and ended up very dizzy. Her head ricocheted inside of her skull, sending her spinning. She clutched Soul's arm for dear life and muttered some foul names for him under her breath, while he simply laughed as they travelled around. Soul tried to convince Maka to go on the mini-rollercoaster, but looking at how it only went in circles was almost enough to make her spill her stomach.

They settled instead for the Haunted House as their next stop. Maka fearlessly strutted in, unafraid, while Soul simply walked behind her, slouching, with his hands in his jacket. Maka's expectations for it were that it would be something for little eleven year olds to go in. So, once again, she ended up scared out of her pants when out of the shadows came bony, mutated hands that wrapped around her stomach, pulling her back as she thrashed around. Being the expert in combat that she was, she elbowed whoever was behind her in the gut while biting on the eerie hands, breaking the skin. A loud yelp of pain came from behind her, and she turned to see a man dressed as a creature (and quite a scary one, mask and all), who's top priority was making the Haunted House as terrifying as possible. Maka frantically offered her sincerest apologies to the man while Soul clutched his stomach, laughing so hard he was on the verge of tears. The man, to Maka's surprise, shook his head and laughed it off, getting back up again when the two disappeared farther down the now horrifying attraction. She was oblivious to his tone, and how he seemed to be trying not to say something….

This wasn't the first time that Black*Star had completely wasted all of his money on beer, lotto tickets and video games. But it was the first time that Tsubaki wouldn't hand over her's with an exasperated smile.

Her eyes became balloons when she heard how much he spent. "WHAT? Black*Star, how could you spend 700 dollars in one week? Shibusen isn't going to compensate for that!"

He shrugged, eyes glued to the t.v. "Well, then, can I just borrow some of yours then?"

That was it. That set her off. Maybe it was that, and the fact that she almost failed a test, and some creep had practically harassed her to go out with him today, and that she was up to her eyebrows in homework. Maybe it was that he had "borrowed" money from her for about four years without a single penny in return. And, well, okay…..she was on her period. But whatever the reason, before she knew it, somehow, sweet, kind, compassionate Tsubaki had vanished, replaced by newly-found pissed off, not-putting-up-for-any-crap Tsubaki. "OH HELL NO! IF YOU THINK I'M GONNA GIVE YOU MONEY EVERY TIME YOU WASTE ALL OF YOURS, YOUR OUT OF YOUR DAMN MIND! NOW GET YOUR ASS OFF THE COUCH AND GET A JOB BEFORE I KICK IT SO HARD YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SHIT FOR A WEEK! I DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE A GOD, I'LL BEAT YOUR ASS! NOW GET UP AND GET A JOB, OR SO HELP ME, I WILL CRIPPLE YOU!"

Black*Star had been cowering in the corner, absolutely terrified by Tsubaki's outburst. Now, he was half-screaming as he rushed out of the door with his stuff, scared out of his freaking mind.

Once he was out of the room, and she had mellow down, Tsubaki just stared at the door. "Oh…that was too much. Uh…oh my, I really lost it there." She sighed as she plopped down on the couch, exhausted. "Well…maybe a job will be good for him, for once."

Black*Star didn't know if Tsubaki really meant anything she had said, but he sure as hell wasn't going back inside to ask. So he began calling some of his friends up, explaining the situation and asking if they knew of anything he could do for money for a few nights (refraining from making it sound dirty).

After calling about twenty people, he finally found something. One of his old friends was working at a carnival, and they were short one person. The carnival would open in about an hour and a half, so that gave him time to get over and get instructions on what he had to do. Because he wasn't originally supposed to be on the staff, the manager would pay him the equivalent of overtime per hour, and extra sum that sounded great to him, and so he readily accepted.

An hour and a half later, he was dressed in a decently scary costume, glad he would be able to scare the shit outta some kids instead of just taking tickets. _I'll be the star of this whole dumb Haunted House! I'll scare those kids so bad that their pants'll turn brown, _he devilishly thought as he prepared for the masses.

Everything was going so well, he predicted, he managed to scare many little children so bad they practically wet themselves. They shrieked and ran away in terror as Black*Star chuckled to himself, thanking his good fortune for getting such a great job at the last second, and then reminding himself it was _because _he was a god that it happened. For about an hour, he crept through the dark passageways, peering in on couples, little kids, and seemingly tough teenagers. His entire ninja training for years had made this task so simple, as he blended into the darkness perfectly, not akin a sound, not even breathing for a few seconds. Although he loved the look on those brats's faces when he spooked them from the darkness, he had to admit, the best to prank were the couples. The whole, _I'm scared! That's okay baby, take my hand, I'll protect you, _act made him want to barf. It was especially fun scaring the guys that thought they were "protecting" their chicks. That showed them what their man was really like.

So he smirked through his bloody mask when he saw a "cute" couple walking through it. This girl, though, with ashy blonde hair, looked almost determined _not _to be scared as she walked just ahead of the guy with spiky white hair. This would make it all the more interesting- scaring someone who thought they were better than shaking in a Haunted House for kids- and a _girl _at that, not even a macho-tough guy. He snuck with ease up behind her, concealed by the black, and held his breath. _Ready….NOW! _He thrust his hands in front of her and covered her mouth before she could react, pressing her up to him like he was a serial killer in some psycho-horror movie. She instantly began thrashing around, but her efforts were futile.

Black*Star was about to chuckle at his victory and release her, but he didn't have such luxuries. In no time at all, he was on the ground, wind knocked out of him by this girls elbow and painted hands bleeding. He cringed and moaned in pain, ribs aching and hands throbbing. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" he heard her ask as she finally realized what was going on. "Are you okay?"

_OKAY? OF COURSE NOT, BITCH! YOU BIT ME AND ELBOWED BE IN THE CHEST! HOW DARE YOU ACT SO HOSTILE AGAINST YOUR GOD! APOLOGI- _But his thoughts were cut off when he notices just who was kneeling over him in unease. First, he noticed the green in her eyes. Then, everything else just pieced itself together. _Maka? What the hell is she doing h-? _

And then it hit him. It hit him the same time he heard the laughter from right behind her. His eyes travelled to the albino boy, mocking her idiocracy, chuckling, "Wow, Maka! It was just a joke!"

She shot her emerald eyes to him, narrowing them. "Shut up Soul!" They returned to Black*Star, all anger replaced by a soothing kindness. "I'm really, really sorry. Are you gonna be okay?"

They were on a date.

Shock was the only real thing to describe Black*Star's reaction. Dazed, he shook his head slowly, breathing out what he guessed was a laugh. Still, he couldn't say anything. No words would escape from his gaping mouth. Thank the gods- or rather, thank _him- _that he was wearing a mask.

Within moments, Maka and Soul were gone again, making their was towards the rest of the exhibit. After the shock passed, Black*Star picked himself up…..and grinned. _Oh, Tsubaki is going to _flip _when she hears about this….._

**FINALLY! AT LONG LAST! IT HAS COME! THE TIME TO FINALLY POST THIS CHAPTER UP IS UPON US!**

**XDDDDD lmfao so this has taken me forever! so i am BEGGING YOU, PLEEEEEEEAAAAAAAASSSSSEEE leave a comment for Alice-chaaan /0.0\ - con, u cant say no to the puppy dog eyes. pweeaase?**


	21. AuthorsNote

…**...**

**I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY ABOUT THIS! I really hate authors notes that are headed as a whole chapter, too. I'm like, YAAAY A NEW CHAPTER! :D IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOREVER-...WHAT? this is only an AUTHOURS NOTE? BAHH, HUMBUG :(**

**but, I felt that I seriously needed to post this, so here I go...**

**first, let me say, thank you all so frikin much for everything! its been about two and a half months that i've been working on The Letter, and im just so happy that my story has been such a success :) I really love all the comments i've been receiving, and everytime I see a comment in my yahoo, I really do get a little brighter. Im so grateful for all of you guys- seriously~! *group hugs***

**moving on, I wanted to post that these chapters are going to take a little (a lot) longer to update. I've started chapter 21, but its going to be very very long (I what im planning on), so it'll take even longer. What I plan to do is get this next story im writing out of the way (One Night) because it'll only be about five or six chapters. I will resume The Letter and Moonstone after I complete, or have posted up a couple more chapters for One Night. The reason being- I seriously have TONS of homework and things im working on.**

**The up side- next week is SPRING BREAK~! :DDDDD which meeeeaaaans MORE WRITING TIME! *whootwhoot* and I only have two more OVA's left of shakugan no shana, then im done and patiently awaiting season three set to come out later in the year. Aaaand, I finished ouran (which I watched in 2 days XD LOVED IT), so I shouldnt have anymore of those distractions. All that combined with the fact that One Night shouldnt be too many more chapters should be better...right?**

**In addition; I feel like its been so long since ive really watched the anime or read deeper parts in the manga. I mean, its been about half a year since I finished the anime, and lately, the manga hasnt been focusing on soul and maka as much (ALTHOUGH CHAPTER 83 LOOKS LIKE ITS GETTING THERE AGAIN :DDDDDDD).**

**Anyways, my point is, I feel so out of touch from the characters. I dont feel like a few of the things im writing are how maka would feel and react (just some minor things), and I want this to be as accurate as possible. so I plan to watch a few of the episodes that really reflect maka (but not the end. That was one of the worst endings ever. e.v.e.r.) and read chapters of the manga that dealt with her personal feelings to get back in touch with her emotionally. I know it may not look (to some people) like she's OOC, but im not very sure in some chapters that shes really in character. **

**Same with Soul. Of course he's always there for Maka, but to what extent? I know im probably pissing off a lotta fangirls right now, but I just wanna make sure im not making Soul out to be this prince that comes sweeping in (hehe, ironic cause of chapter 13) to help her whenever she's emotinally distressed. Idk, again, I really need to reread/watch stuff.**

**So, yeah.**

**Uhh, lets see, anything else...oh, right! If you remembered, In chapter...uh, 12? maka was humming a song she said she knew by heart but couldnt remember. Im not forgetting that. ;) OR in chapter 1 where soul said he envied maka (last line) of her relationship with her mom.**

**oh, yeah. And I really REALLY SERIOUSLY SWEAR TO THE PINNEAPPLE HIDING UNDER MY BEAD, L O V E how into my story some readers are :DDDDD, but please (and im typing this in the nicest way possible) try to refrain from giving suggestions as to what I should do in my story. I may say that I dont know whats gong to happen next myself in the next chapter, but I really like to make it my own, you know? Sorry if ive offended any1 X(**

**lastly, as you may have noticed, my pen name is now officially AliceUnknown. I've been using this for a while now, but i only cbegan using it after i had put my username as mysoulyoursoul. i had no idea we could change our names o.o XDDD but anyways, behold. the. amazing. new. screename.**

**wow, this is a long authors note...**

**so, back to the point! Think of this as a short break while I continue my next story and reconnect with the characters please :) **

**thanks again for everyones support! Make sure as you exit the browser, you grab a few cookies stationed at the exit as you make your way out~!theyre there to offer my sincirest apologies for this A/N that you've mistaken as the next chapter XP**


	22. Notice

**Notice**

This fanfic is being discontinued.

I know this is a huge disappointment to many people, but I want you to know that I've had a great run here on FanFiction. Unfortunately, due to certain circumstances, I am discontinuing all of my fanfics.

PLEASE BE ADVISED, I AM NOT REMOVING ANY FANFICS FROM THE FANFICTION ARCHIVE, NOR AM I DELETING THIS ACCOUNT.

If there are any other questions, please check my profile for more information, or feel absolutely free to PM me.

I'm so sorry I broke my promise...


	23. Therapy and a Long Awaited Ending

**A/N: Here it is. The last chapter of that fanfic you all forgot about. ;D**

Chapter 20- Therapy and a Long Awaited Ending

Maka gently traced her fingers over the frame. It was smooth and dark and inside it was a picture of her mother. Smiling. With Maka standing right beside her. She closed her eyes and breathed in for five Mississippi-seconds, before exhaling it all and gripping the picture in an attempt to not feel the pain in her chest.

"Maka, are you ready?"

She opened her eyes, giving one last long stare at the haunting faces she held in her hands. She carefully set it on her desk. "Yeah."

…

"So, Maka. How are you feeling today?"

Dr. Nelson was very nice, and very cheesy. He wore khaki pants that stopped just before his ankle, revealing thick, white socks that he matched with Birkenstocks. His shirt was a light green button-up, and for some ungodly reason, he wore a tie. With his Birkenstocks. His fashion sense aside, though, he had a very calm, refreshing air about him. His smile wasn't near as tacky as his clothes, and they were honest.

Maka shifted in her seat. "Not too good right now."

Dr. Nelson nodded. "Well, that's to be expected." He crossed his leg. "So, let's get down to it, then, shall we?"

"Um," Maka interrupted. "When will Soul be able to come in?" Dr. Nelson had wanted to speak privately with Maka for a little while before letting Soul sit down in the session. Even with an easygoing person like Dr. Nelson, she still felt a little unsettled without him.

"Ah, he'll come in in just a few minutes. If that's okay with you, of course."

"Uh...y-yeah, that's fine." She fidgeted. Maka remembered a time when feeling dependent on a man was practically a sin. She still didn't want to feel that way about Soul.

Dr. Nelson asked, "So, Maka, what happened that made you feel like you wanted to come see me?"

…

Soul yawned. "Well. That was interesting."

The session had gone well. Except for the part when Maka had to recount her entire experience thus far, and when she broke down remembering her mother's warm smile, and when Soul saw her tear-stained cheeks and red, blotchy skin and became quite suspicious of Dr. Nelson.

Perhaps the most uncomfortable moment was when Dr. Nelson asked why she chose to have Soul come in with her.

"_W-Well, he's my partner," she responded, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world._

"_What about your father, if I may ask? Is he in the picture?"_

"_P-papa? Oh, no. I mean, he's alive, and I see him all the time, but I'd rather have Soul with me than Papa any day."_

"_I see," he mused subtly. "And how has Soul been supporting you in this situation you've been in?"_

"_Um, that's kind of a hard question."_

_Soul shifted uncomfortably, not sure what to say or do. He remained silent._

"_I-I guess, he's been just supportive overall. He always tried to help me, and, er...he's been, uh...well, like a partner- but no, that's- I mean, like a friend, who's also a partner...I-I'm sorry, can you repeat the question again, please?"_

"Well," present-Maka sighed."At least my trauma is _only_ trauma, and not post-traumatic stress disorder. I'll only have to see him for a few more sessions to help with some trauma and depression issues, and then I'm free."

Soul snickered. "God, who wears Birkenstocks these days?"

"Oh my God, is that really all you're going to say?"

He laughed. "Sorry." He stared down at his feet. They had walked over to the bus stop (Soul's bike had lost a few screws and bolts from an almost-bad collision, so it had been deemed unsafe, and Maka thought there would just be something weird about dying on your way to therapy), and were sitting down on the bench, waiting for their ride in the warm heat. "But, I'm just glad you're okay." He raised a fist in the air for her to punch.

She half-smiled and abided by his unspoken request.

"Hey, Soul?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks. For coming."

"No problem."

"I owe you one."

"You've owed me, like, forty."

"Well then, I owe you forty-one."

He smirked. "Touché."

She breathed out a tired sigh. "I'm so glad that's over."

Soul knit his eyebrows together. "H-Hey, Maka?"

"Yeah, Soul?"

"...About yesterday..."

"Ah, that was fun! Thanks again for it! Carnivals are unexpectedly...fun."

He chuckled at her amusement, bu it was short and quick, and a moment later, he became serious again. "Yeah, well...maybe we should go again sometime. If you liked it that much."

"Yeah, sure! And maybe Tsubaki and Liz and Patty could come, too! But I have a feeling both BlackStar and Kid would cause an issue. Come to think of it, Patty might get a little too competitive over stuffed giraffes-"

"So then maybe we should go alone."

Maka froze.

Soul noticed her immediate lack of a proper reaction. He gently sighed. "Never mind. It was nothi-"

"W-Wait, I didn't say anything!"

He looked over at her. Her ears were stinging red, as was much of her face. "No, that sound fun. I'd be up for it!"

"Maka, don't force yourself."

She bit the bottom of her lip back.

"It's just, this isn't a simple friendly invitation to hang out. This is probably the wrong time and all- especially at a bus stop- but I just needed to say it. And however you react, I'll respect it and all, and if you don't want to right now, then that's fine-"

"Soul, just shut up a sec, okay?"

Soul was startled into silence.

"Um, I...well, I mean, I don't know...n-not about that, but about _this_, and I'm just, I-"

"You're stuttering." 

"AH, SHUT UP!" If a face could explode into a blush, Maka did it.

Soul laughed, and to Maka, it was admittedly one of the most comforting sounds she knew of. It was hard to deny she didn't want that sort of relationship with him when she _kinda sorta did._ But there would be consequences, and she was tired, and emotionally exhausted, and there were a lot of things hitting her today.

And then she was crying, and she didn't even know why.

"Tsk, you're such a crybaby," Soul teased. He cautiously put his hand behind the back of her head and lowered it to his chest. Her cries were muffled in his shirt, and she had a safe place to hide. "It's okay, you're okay."

She was coming to realize that she'd be very okay.

...

_End_

...

A/N: Wow. It was rushed and unfinished and so fluffy I do believe I vomited, but it's an ENDING, GUYS! ~~~~~~~

THIS IS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU ALL. ALL 58 OF YOU SUBSCRIBED TO THIS, AND ALL 69 OF YOU WHO HAVE THIS ON YOUR FAVS. I. LOVE YOU GUYS.

AND IF YOU GUYS DON'T REVIEW THIS, I WILL FRUGGING FIND WHERE YOU LIVE AND DO SADISTIC THINGS TO YOU IN YOUR SLEEP. So, yeah, it's probably in your best interest to review.

**That being said- I HAVE WRITTEN LIKE 3 NEW ONESHOTS, NONE OF WHICH HAVE RECEIVED MORE THAN 2 REVIEWS. I have hit a serious low, ladies and gents. If you have the time, pllleeeeaaasssee, just check them out on my profile.**

Also- I'm re-writing One Night, for anyone who's read that.

Um, let's seee...yeah. Skin you in your sleep, so review.


End file.
